General Discussions

**andrei155** · 01-19-2008, 08:09 PM

Well, we've all heard that we only use something like 8% of our brain, and I am sure its true to some extent. I, personally, believe in this theory, and that we as humans, are capable of so much more. I also have a theory; that if we were able to use much more of our brains, we would be able to handle all the different "Processes" running in our bodies, so to say. I believe that our brain controls everything, and in the end it should be able to have access to everything. All the different hormones being released, the adrenaline that we get, and every other possibility, reflex, and variable. I believe that, by utilizing 50% or so of our brain, we may have the ability to slow down blood speed, the direction of which it flows, and even our heart rate.

I am only here to learn, so if any of you may know something that i don't, kindly share

**aschwa** · 01-19-2008, 08:24 PM

Nope. A lot of bodily processes are regulated autonomously. That's why people get flushed when they're embarrassed or nervous, etc. Look up the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

It makes evolutionary sense (at least in our history) to have that kind of stuff controlled automatically. Imagine if you had to think, "Okay now would be a good time to speed up digestion of my food," etc. whenever you have some downtime. Or if some animal attacks you, you don't want to be thinking, "Okay, I need to increase my heart rate now and release some cortisone, and... [a thousand other things]." It's a GOOD thing that our brain and body take care of those details on their own.

That's not to say that we can't "calm ourselves down" or relax or anything like that. We can to a certain extent control these processes indirectly.

Also, humans use 100% of their brains, I don't know what you mean there.

**andrei155** · 08:36 PM

Ah well there goes that, lol. I decided to do a simple google search, and I found out that these "Only use 10% of brain" claims are false. Well, its a common myth none the less.

Maybe i should do some research next time I begin to ponder.

I still say, however, that we should be able to consciously manage these things, while they are still done automatically.

**aschwa** · 01-19-2008, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrei155

I still say, however, that we should be able to consciously manage these things, while they are still done automatically.

Not for a long time anyway. The para- and sympathetic nervous systems are actually separate nerve trunks that run from the brain to various organs, etc. Once a part of our brain thinks "Panic!" or whatever, then the signals sent along these nerves and their effect is automatic. The only way to stop it is to get the brain to stop feeling panicked or relaxed as the case may be. To override this system would require us to know a lot more than we presently know.

And as I said, it's a good thing that many processes are handled automatically. How on earth would a human know whether his heart should be beating faster or slower? If you have chronic tachycardia, you should exercise more (carefully) and maybe consider some medication, but it doesn't usually work to just wish that your heart beat slower. It's not just one factor or something like that: your body "considers" lots of factors when it decides how fast to make your heart beat or when it wants you to fall asleep, etc. Most of these decisions have been honed by evolution to be the optimum under the circumstances. (Of course, we have to ask what those circumstances were in our history and whether they're still the same.)

**andrei155** · 01-19-2008, 08:52 PM

Well theres certainly nothing else I could argue with

Very nice post!

**aschwa** · 01-19-2008, 09:00 PM

Incidentally, a while ago I wrote a post with a number of interesting medical tidbits that you may enjoy if you're into this kind of stuff:

Quote:

The myelin sheathes surrounding the axons of neurons in the peripheral nervous system are actually separate cells called Schwann cells. You have no Schwann cells in your central nervous system (but that doesn't mean there's no myelin there!).

The purpose of myelin isn't to "insulate" neurons from one another, but to speed the rate of transmission along axons.

You have 100 trillion bacteria in your colon, which is one thousand times the number of neurons in your central nervous system.

Speaking of which, the great majority of those neurons (~73 billion) are in your cerebellum, the most primitive area of your brain.

Your two lungs have different numbers of lobes, two on the left and three on the right.

The main heart sounds ("lub-dub") are actually the closing of the valves of the heart, beginning with the atrial-ventricular valves and then the bicuspid and tricuspid valves.

Arteries usually carry oxygenated blood, but not always! The only exceptions I can think of, however, are the pulmonary arteries.

Your heart is mostly left ventricle, with a little flap of right ventricle tacked on.[Edit: Oops, I meant to compare the ventricles and forgot about the atria!]

The cardiac sphincter has nothing to do with the heart, other than that it is located nearby. It is actually the sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach ("gastroesophageal").

You have little stones ("otoliths") in the vestibular system in your ear to help you maintain balance and sense movement.

**andrei155** · 01-19-2008, 09:06 PM

I did enjoy it : ), thanks.

What do you know about Neurons. My mother has spoken to me about them, and the fact that you are born with only a certain number, is this true, or is she condensing information for me?

Thanks again

**aschwa** · 01-19-2008, 09:10 PM

As far as I know, the number of neurons that you have normally doesn't change once you're more or less an adult. You can lose neurons due to a number of different causes (including some corrosive, illegal "hard drugs"). In the peripheral nervous system, you can regain some lost neurons (this is one of the things that myelin is believed to help with) as the broken axons will reconnect with cells further down the line. So you can "regain" feeling in areas where you've had the nerves severed. This cannot happen in the central nervous system, because there are no Schwann cells. The cells there are called oligodendrocytes, and the way they are arranged prohibits this regeneration of nerves.

**andrei155** · 01-19-2008, 11:29 PM

Are you a doctor? You seem to know so much about health.

**aschwa** · 01-19-2008, 11:52 PM

Nope, not a doctor. I just have an interest in this stuff and so can study it a lot easier than most things. In fact, the only classes I've had that relate to medicine are fairly standard biology, human biology, psychology, and genetics classes.

(I re-read your 8:06pm post and noticed I kind of missed part of what you were saying. Babies have different numbers of neurons than they will when they are adults: a large number of neurons get "pruned" in their early years. I don't really know of any process that will increase the number of neurons; generally, you will only lose them or they will reorganize themselves. Of course, there are also other cells besides neurons in the brain that are important too, and these are much more abundant in adults than in kids.

)

**cbwm** · 01-20-2008, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aschwa

Also, humans use 100% of their brains, I don't know what you mean there.

If this is true, is it safe to say that people with bigger brains may, in fact, be smarter, thereby giving the term "Egghead" some credibility when referring to a know it all?

**andrei155** · 01-20-2008, 09:15 AM

On top of what cbwm asked, when you say we use 100% of our brains does that mean that we have the potential to use 100%, or that we ARE using 100%. If we are, how do we learn new things, concepts, and ideas?

My mom sais that watching too much TV and spending time on the computers wastes your neurons, is this true, or is she trying to trick me

**serandfae** · 01-20-2008, 02:32 PM

Regarding autonomic functions, there are some that you can take conscious control of. I've trained myself, for instance, to turn off hiccups by imagining the "short" in the "wires" from my brain to my diaphragm, and imagining this "short" turning off. I've stopped headaches in a similar manner, by visualizing the blood vessels in the affected area opening up. Anyone can learn to do this, I stumbled upon it just wondering if it was something that could be done and tried it.

**aschwa** · 01-20-2008, 02:59 PM

Nope, a bigger brain does not mean you are smarter. There are other considerations, too. Some of the other factors are the number of folds in the surface or the density of neurons. Also, there's a lot of "white matter" that, while we technically use it to its fullest potential, doesn't contribute much to our brainpower, and that could vary a lot from person to person.

We DO use 100%. Different areas of the brain are responsible for controlling different aspects of our experience, so your vision is processed in the back of the brain and your hearing on the sides of your brain, etc. But every part of your brain is being used actively for some purpose. That said, the part of the brain that is most important for making you a human is the frontal lobe. Everything about who you are as a person, your ability to experience and understand, your reasoning, your feelings and desires, is concentrated there.

The way we learn new things is by forming new synapses and pruning old synapses. So we don't change the number of neurons, just how densely they're connected. Some people seem to be able to form new connections much more easily between their neurons, and this enables them to learn faster and with less difficulty.

I don't know about the wasting neurons bit. Certainly it won't cause your neurons to die or anything like that, but TV is regarded as a pretty poor educational tool in general, so your neurons won't get quite as good a workout as if you're doing more constructive things.

Regarding the hiccoughs things: hiccoughs are a result of the diaphragm spasming due to irritation, and the diaphragm is (most of the time) a voluntary muscle, so you can "calm" it down by consciously trying to control it or holding your breath.

There are tons of causes of headaches, but it doesn't surprise me that relaxing and thinking about curing the headaches would cure some of them.

**cbwm** · 01-20-2008, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aschwa

That said, the part of the brain that is most important for making you a human is the frontal lobe. Everything about who you are as a person, your ability to experience and understand, your reasoning, your feelings and desires, is concentrated there.

Better to have this bottle in front of me, than have a frontal lobotomy.

**andrei155** · 01-20-2008, 08:53 PM

Aschwa, maybe you can solve a problem of mine, since you prove to have extensive knowledge on this subject. Now, I don't know if it has anything to do with the brain, or if its completely normal... however i hope the second is truer than the first.

After sitting in one spot for a period of time, sometimes not very long at all, and then getting up abruptly, my vision seems to fail, and then fade out, so to say. Everything gets black gradually, but only for a split second. Afterwards, my vision returns to normal.

I've had this for quite some time, and I don't know if its anything worth concerning ymself over. It happens to me once or twie every month or so.

**aschwa** · 01-20-2008, 09:00 PM

Obviously I can't give medical advice! But I will say I suspect it's just your brain temporarily not getting enough blood because your heart doesn't have to beat as hard when you're sitting down. This is called a "head rush." It applies particularly to people who are tall and thin. It's similar to when you're relaxing in the bath and then get out of it quickly: for a moment your heart isn't pumping hard enough to supply your brain with enough blood. If that's the case, it's nothing serious, but you should definitely consult your doctor!

**andrei155** · 01-21-2008, 07:45 AM

Thanks alot =]. I will next time i have a check up, however I feel its what you stated as well.

Thanks again.

**Iknow** · 01-21-2008, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrei155

Aschwa, maybe you can solve a problem of mine, since you prove to have extensive knowledge on this subject. Now, I don't know if it has anything to do with the brain, or if its completely normal... however i hope the second is truer than the first.

After sitting in one spot for a period of time, sometimes not very long at all, and then getting up abruptly, my vision seems to fail, and then fade out, so to say. Everything gets black gradually, but only for a split second. Afterwards, my vision returns to normal.

I've had this for quite some time, and I don't know if its anything worth concerning ymself over. It happens to me once or twie every month or so.

could be low blood presure.

**DaveMo~** · 01-21-2008, 03:24 PM

Whatever it is, best to get it checked. My brother had the same problem and it was due to low blood flow because his heart was slowing down too much. He now has a pacemaker. That's not to make you worry, but have it checked out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by serandfae

I've stopped headaches in a similar manner, by visualizing the blood vessels in the affected area opening up. Anyone can learn to do this, I stumbled upon it just wondering if it was something that could be done and tried it.

And where did you stumble upon this? It doesn't sound like something that one would just "figure" out, but I don't know. Just curious.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aschwa

We DO use 100%. Different areas of the brain are responsible for controlling different aspects of our experience, so your vision is processed in the back of the brain and your hearing on the sides of your brain, etc. But every part of your brain is being used actively for some purpose. That said, the part of the brain that is most important for making you a human is the frontal lobe. Everything about who you are as a person, your ability to experience and understand, your reasoning, your feelings and desires, is concentrated there.

I think most everyone agrees that we use 100% of our physical brain. There are some that still say that we don't use all of our mind, and I think they mean that we are not using all our cognitive powers.

What do y'all think about those people that have been able to control involuntary muscles?

Dave