TIL - Do We Only Use 10% of Our Brain?

Most movies and sci-fi films, motivational speakers and pop culture magazines teach us that we can only use about 10 percent of our brain. This is the common belief among humans, that somehow only this small segment of our brain capacity is actually used. And if we could somehow open those other parts, amazing things would happen, like getting superpowers or possessing all the knowledge of the world.

You've seen this if you watched movies like Lucy (2014) with Scarlett Johansson or Limitless (2011) with Bradley Cooper. Main character gets exposed to some kind of drug and suddenly becomes a prodigy, able to rise above human logic, to see complex mathematical patterns, gain martial art skills or write a book in a day.

Sadly (or not) this is a myth. There is no part of your brain that is not used. No secret cabinet you could open and get psychic or telekinesis power.

Origins of the myth

One possible origin came from a study by William James and Boris Sidis way back in the 1890s. Studying the prodigy child they suggested that people don't use their brain to a full capacity. Years later this was misquoted and somehow a figure of 10 percent was put on that statement. All they wanted to say is that we don't challenge ourselves mentally.

Another possible explanation could be that a long time ago a study of the brain showed that only 10 percent of the brain is actually made of neuron cells. And 90 percent consists of so called glial cells, which provide support and protection for neurons in the nervous system.

In the neuron doctrine it was believed that only neurons are used for brain functioning while these other cells only served as a support. Hence, there's a belief we only operate on 10 percent of brain capacity because that's how much "valid material" we have. This is not true.

Over the last couple of decades, researches showed that glial cells have more function than to be a supportive tissue for the neurons:

• they surround neurons and hold them in place
• they add oxygen to neurons
• they isolate neurons from one another
• they protect the brain by removing pathogens and dead neurons

If only 10 percent of our brain is used, than damaging some other parts of it shouldn't have any consequences. Instead, there is almost no area that could be damaged and not lead to a severe trauma or performance impairment. Plus, brain scans showed that no matter what someone is doing, all areas of the brain are active.

So even though it looks like some of the bits and pieces of the brain are useless and could be removed without consequences, turns out they all have a specialized role in brain functioning.

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So do we use all of it all the time? - Actually no. What's closest to the truth is that we are using most of our brain all of the time, but, due to some habitual patterns, we learned to not engage it fully. Because we live in patterns and habits, our brain activities use same preferred neuron pathways in our day to day lives.

How to activate all of it

If we engage the whole brain activity, we could enhance our awareness, consciousness and overall experience as humans on this planet. Instead of using the same learned patterns and pathways, we could become the whole brain by practicing some simple exercises.

Your right hand is controlled by the left side of your brain. Your left hand is controlled by the right side of your brain. But when you cross your hand to the opposite side of your body passing the midline, it's suddenly controlled by both of your brain hemispheres, thus engaging the whole brain. Same applies for your legs. One side of your brain is responsible for analytical thinking, while the other is driven by emotions. You might have noticed how, when you're tired after some intense work and you sit on your chair and unconsciously cross your legs or ankles. That's your brain trying to experience mindfulness.

Exercises to activate whole brain involve crossing your arms and legs and maintaining that position for couple of minutes. Pretty soon you'll have both of your hemispheres working in harmony.

Since the age of 8, humans start developing so called brain dominance. This is the condition where in any particular moment for a certain activity only one hemisphere is involved, and for another we use different hemisphere. And it happens in waves throughout the day, where hemispheres change constantly, without being active at the same time.

If we learn to use them synchronously, both our logical side and emotions are active. We create the possibility of "super learning" where our brain processes information much quickly and our neurological functions are enhanced. When we operate from a place of brain dominance, one hemisphere is always shut and the results won't be optimal.

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What I took from this is that some areas work harder in certain situations but there is no empty, dark and unused space. And those movies might have a wrong premise, but the potential to fully open our brain capacities is probably there.

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Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, Images 1, 2, 3

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