Fascinating Facts about the Human Brain - - -
There’s
probably no greater mystery that we can ponder than that of understanding our
mind! This is such an in depth subject
and one that can be considered from so many various angles, I thought about
writing a blog on the subject but it has become so involved that I decided to
break it down into four parts. This is
part one.
The
human brain has amazed and baffled people for a very long time. Some scientists and doctors have devoted their
entire lives to learning how the brain works.
It is no wonder that people enjoy learning facts about this incredible
organ in the human body. We will (within
the four parts of this blog) discuss initially the organ (the brain) and
some astonishing facts about it and then the mind (typically defined as
the organized totality or system of all mental processes or psychic activities
of an individual) and what we can learn about them.
So what
do you know about the brain and the mind?
The human brain weighs about 3 pounds which is about ½ the weight of
your skin. You’ve probably heard the expression
that you need to use your “gray matter.”
The brains gray matter is made up of neurons, which gather and transmit
signals. The white matter is made up of
dendrites and axons, which create the network by which the neurons send their
signals. Many philosophers hold that the
brain is a detector of the mind and that the mind is an inner, subjective state
of consciousness.
The
brain is made up of about 75% water with about 100 billion neurons. There are anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000
synapses for each neuron. And one very
interesting point to me is that, for many years, veterans returning from war
and others who have missing limbs have been plagued by what is referred to as “phantom
limb pain.” Although the limb is no longer there, the nerve
endings at the site of the amputation continue to send pain signals to the brain that make the brain think the limb is
still there. Sometimes, the brains memory of pain is
retained and is interpreted as pain, regardless of signals from injured nerves. But,
science says there are no pain receptors in the brain, so the brain itself can
feel no pain. And there are other things
about the mind that you might find interesting.
Just
because you don’t remember your dreams doesn’t mean you don’t dream. Everyone
dreams! Usually about 1-2 hours
each night with from to 4-7 dreams each night!
Dreams are more than just visual images, and even blind people dream.
And you are more likely to remember your
dream if you wake up during the dream instead of sleeping through the entire
night and then trying to remember the dream.
One
of the things we may want to consider is, when we are using our mind, our
memory, our recall, are we really being smart. Or is our mind only tricking us? These things
will be considered in our next blog - - - Part Two: The Brain/The Mind - - -
Being Smart or Being Tricked?
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"Dream about a better future,
then make it happen."
No comments:
Post a Comment