We only use 10% of our brain?
In the new movie, Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, it has been noted that humans only use 10% of our brains. The truth is that hasn’t been scientifically proven, and is a myth. During the movie, Lucy gets all these powerful powers and mental capabilities because of a new cognitive enhancing drug the administration places in her. The film indicates that if we were to unlock the 90% of unused brain, we can then have all these powerful capabilities. In the 1900’s is when the 10% myth started. Rats that were trained to navigate around a maze had portions of the brain removed by Neurosurgeon Karl Lashley. He discovered that the rats were still capable of performing the tasks and behave normally even after damaging the areas of the cerebral cortex.The amount of damage done to the rats affected the way they performed the task, but this could be fixed with more training. The principle of “equipotentiality”, which means that alternate areas of the brain can operate the same function, was proposed by Lashley.
We know that simple damage can affect the brain immensely. Small strokes could cause major damage to a certain part of the brain. Injury to the motor cortex can lead to paralysis on one side of the body, If a small region of the frontal lobe is damaged, then it could result in not being able to speak. Plasticity allows certain functions to recover over time though recovery rarely complete. Distinct brain regions are targeted with diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Deterioration of the Hippocampus causes memory deficits in Alzheimer’s disease, and loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra causes motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. There is no cure for these problems as they get worse. Different areas of the brain act together or separate in order to perform certain tasks. We could be using 10% or 100% of our brain, depending on what we are doing in that moment.
In order to coordinate behavior, certain areas of the area must work together. If one small region of the brain is damaged, then it could cause a major disruption to the functional networks. 2% of our body mass is comprised by the average human brain, but uses 20% of our energy The cerebrum performs cognitive functions, the cerebellum controls motor coordination and the brainstem maintains essential unconscious functions like breathing. Millions of neurons communicating with one another through electrical nerve impulses makes the brain consume the majority of energy. A control network that connects functionally distinct regions is formed by this and if we only used 10% of our brain, then we wouldn’t use this much energy.A major focus for research of the brain involves discovering the role of different types of cells in the brain. Only 10% of the cells are neurons while the rest are glial cells. This seems important in connecting functions, but recent research shows it’s important in forming memories.
