The brain is the most amazing organ of the human body. It controls our central nervous system, with its help we walk, talk, breathe, think. incredibly complex, and the number of its neurons reaches 100 billion. So many processes are involved in its work that many areas of medicine and science are involved in the study and treatment of the brain, often intertwining with each other. However, there is a downside to the complexity of the human brain - we just don't understand some things. Below you will find ten most common myths and misconceptions about the main organ of the human body - brain.
The brain is so complex that the task of recreating a “working virtual copy” of it has become one of the most challenging in the last few decades. For the development of the Human Brain Project, for example. After thousands of years of studying and treating the brain (whatever you want to call it), it is still so incomprehensible that people tend to simplify its workings by making it more understandable. Let's start with color.
Ever thought about what color is your brain? Unlikely unless you work in the medical field. All the colors of the rainbow are sealed in the human body, blood is red, bones are white, and so on down the list. But you've probably seen brains preserved in alcohol in some cabinet of curiosities. For the most part, this brain is white, gray or yellowish in color. But the living, pulsating head organ is, in fact, not just gray - but also white, black and red.
And like many other interesting myths and facts about the brain, this one is not without a rational grain. Most of the brain is indeed gray, and sometimes the entire brain is simply called "gray matter." Agatha Christie, in the words of her hero Hercule Poirot, often called the brain “little gray cells.” Gray matter is found in different parts of the brain (and the spinal cord too) and is made up of different types of cells like neurons. However, your head also contains white matter, which contains nerve fibers that connect the gray matter.
The black component is called substantia nigra, which is Latin for (you guessed it) “black substance.” Black brain cells are this color because of neuromelanin, a special type of the same pigment that gives black color to skin and hair, and is part of the basal ganglia. Finally, the red color is, of course, blood vessels. Why are brains preserved in alcohol gray if in fact they are multi-colored? The point is formaldehyde - the same alcohol in the jar that preserves brains from destruction.
Mozart's music makes you smarter
At the sound of classical music, your lips purse, but you yourself feel exalted and cultured as hell? Give it up. Baby Einstein, a company that makes DVDs, videos and other products for babies, makes a lot of money by marketing classical music, art and poetry to naive mothers. Parents buy her products, believing that Mozart is beneficial for the child's development. This idea became so popular that it was called " Mozart effect" Where do the legs of this myth come from?
Superstition is the most terrible enemy of the human race. © Voltaire
In 1950, an ENT doctor named Albert Tomatis began promoting Mozart's music, claiming that it helped people with speech impediments and hearing disorders. In the 1990s, 36 students at the University of California, Irvine listened to a Mozart sonata for 10 minutes before taking an IQ test. According to Gordon Shaw, a psychologist who followed the students, their IQ increased by 8 points. This is how the “Mozart effect” was born.
A musician named Dan Campbell registered a trademark and created a whole series of books and CDs on this subject, starting to distribute them in the United States and collecting money from gullible mothers. He then went even further, arguing that Mozart's music could even raise from the dead improve health.
The University of California has received a ton of criticism from the scientific community. Professor Frances Rauscher, a scientist involved in the study, said they never said music makes you smarter, just improves performance on spatial-temporal tasks. Other scientists have been unable to confirm these results, so to date there is no scientific reason to listen to Mozart or other classical music to become wiser. Of course, Mozart will not harm you, enjoy, but make no mistake.
When you learn something, new convolutions appear
Imagine what the brain looks like. Surely it resembles a fleshy walnut with two hemispheres, covered with convolutions. As humans evolved as a species, the brain expanded in size to accommodate all the functions that differentiate us from other animals. But in order to fit into the cranium and be in proportion with the rest of our body, the brain literally packed into itself. If we smoothed out all the kinks, the brain would look like a pillowcase. The ridges are called convolutions, and the gaps are called furrows. Some of them have names, and different people have different features in their construction. Einstein, for example.
We are not born with convolutions; at the beginning of development, the fetus has a smooth little brain. As neurons grow, they also grow and migrate to different areas of the brain, creating grooves and ridges. By 40 weeks, the brain is almost as convoluted as an adult's. That is, as we learn, new reliefs do not appear; we are simply born with them.
Let's not deny that as we learn, the brain changes - the plasticity of the brain is responsible for this, but still new convolutions do not appear. A study of rat brains found that the synapses (connections between neurons) and the blood cells that support the neurons increased in number. Some believe that the brain grows as we gain memories, but this has not yet been proven in mammalian brains (that is, comparable to human brains).
You can receive information through the subconscious
The concept of influencing the subconscious is that the government, large corporations and the media “feed” us “noodles” and want to say something. Subliminal message (that is, below limen, threshold of conscious perception) is a message embedded in an image or sound that penetrates your subconscious and influences your behavior. The creator of the term, James Vicary, was a market analyst. In 1957, he claimed to have inserted a message into a New Jersey showing of the film. It flashed for 1/3000th of a second and invited viewers to drink Coca-Cola and eat popcorn.
According to Vicari, sales of popcorn increased by 57% and cola sales by 18%, proving the effectiveness of the subliminal message. Then a boom began and advertisers began to actively use the method proposed by Vicari. In 1974, the FCC banned this outrage.
Does this method work? As it turned out, Vicari simply falsified the results of the study. Subsequent studies showed that no Frame 25"does not affect viewers. An infamous 1990 trial into the suicides of two boys who allegedly listened to a suicidal song ended with no scientific evidence presented to the court. However, many conspiracy theorists still argue that advertising, music and other media manipulate people's minds.
It turns out that listening to audio recordings while you sleep will not harm you in any way, but you are unlikely to quit smoking after that.
The human brain is the largest of brains
Does brain size matter? Many animals use their brains to do some things that only humans usually do - creativity, self-awareness, empathy, and the use of additional tools. And although scientists still cannot decide what makes a person human, everyone agrees on one thing: we are truly the smartest creatures on Earth. Besides, since we are the smartest, our brains must also be the biggest. This is the law of society: “the more, the better.” One head is good, but two is inconvenient.
The average human brain weighs 1361 grams. Dolphins - those smart guys - have a brain that weighs almost the same. But the sperm whale, which is considered much more stupid than the dolphin, has a brain that weighs almost 8 kilograms. The brain of a small beagle dog weighs 72 grams, while that of an orangutan weighs 370 grams. But dogs and orangutans are quite smart animals, despite the fact that they are offended by nature. A sparrow's brain generally weighs 1 gram.
If you read carefully, you probably noticed one feature. The average dolphin weighs 158.8 kg, and the sperm whale weighs 13 tons. It turns out that the larger the animal, the larger the skull, and the larger the brain. Beagles are small dogs, weighing no more than 11.3 kg. The relationship between brain size and intelligence is unimportant; what is important is the relationship between brain size and body weight. In humans it is 1 in 50, in most mammals it is 1 in 180, and in birds it is 1 in 220. The human brain weighs more than that of an animal, on average.
In addition, intelligence often depends on different segments of the brain. Mammals have a very large cerebral cortex, unlike birds, fish and reptiles. The cerebellum in mammals is located in the cerebral hemispheres, which are responsible for higher functions of activity: memory, communication and thinking.
Your brain continues to work after your head is cut off
Beheading was once one of the most popular methods of capital punishment, thanks to the guillotine, of course. However... There is nothing in this method except that someone loses their head. The guillotine arose from the “voluntary forced” desire for a quick and relatively humane death. But how quickly does this death occur? If you lost your head, could you still watch the world turn upside down for a few more seconds?
It all started during the French Revolution. On July 17, 1793, a woman named Charlotte Corday was executed for the murder of radical journalist, politician and revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat. Marat was praised for his ideas, and a crowd of dissatisfied people crowded in, wanting to see the woman lose her head. After the blade came down and Corday's head fell to the ground, one of the executioner's assistants grabbed the blade and pierced her cheek. According to eyewitnesses, after death, Corday's eyes turned to see his executioner and an expression of indignation froze in them. After this, everyone who was awaiting the guillotine was asked to blink, and according to some accounts, individuals blinked for up to 30 seconds.
Another legend demonstrates the persistence of consciousness after beheading in 1905. French physician Gabriel Bury witnessed the execution of a man named Langille. They wrote that immediately after this, “the eyelids and lips contracted for five or six seconds.” Dr. Bury called the man's name and "his eyelids slowly lifted." This happened a second time, but the third call went unanswered.
This story suggests that someone can remain conscious for a couple of seconds after losing their head. However, modern doctors believe that the reactions described above are a muscle twitching reflex, and not a conscious and deliberate movement. Being cut off from the heart (and therefore oxygen), the brain automatically goes into a coma and begins to die. According to Dr. Harold Hillman, it probably "occurs within 2-3 seconds due to a rapid decrease in blood pressure in the cranium."
Additionally, Hillman believes that death by guillotine is not really humane or quick. Due to the separation of the brain and spinal cord when tissue is cut, this method must cause sharp and severe pain. For this reason, the guillotine has ceased to be used in countries where there is no moratorium on the death penalty.
Brain damage turns a person into a vegetable
Brain injury seems like an incredibly scary thing to us. In the minds of uninitiated people, brain damage always brings up pictures of a person turning into a vegetable or suffering from physical or mental disabilities throughout his life. The mysterious and amazing brain is actually a fragile mechanism that can be destroyed not only by a car accident, but even by a simple infection.
But it is not always the case. There are different types of brain damage, and their effect on a person depends largely on where they are located and how severe they are. Mild brain injuries, such as concussions, are caused by the brain moving inside the skull, causing bleeding and rupture. The brain recovers surprisingly well from minor injuries, and the vast majority of people who experience mild brain injury do not become disabled for life.
On the other hand, severe brain injury causes significant damage to the brain. Sometimes surgery is required to remove stagnant blood or relieve pressure. Almost all patients who survive severe brain injury emerge with irreversible results.
We've covered the extremes of the spectrum, but what about the rest? Some people with brain damage are disabled but can make a partial recovery. If neurons are damaged or lost, they cannot grow back, but synapses - the connections between neurons - can. Essentially, the brain creates new pathways between neurons. Moreover, some areas of the brain that were not initially associated with certain functions can take over them and relearn them during the patient’s life. Remember what we wrote about brain plasticity above? This way, stroke patients can relearn how to speak and move.
It's important to remember that we know very little about the brain. When a patient is diagnosed with brain damage, the doctor cannot always say with certainty that the patient will or will not recover. Patients consistently surprise doctors after months and even years of recovery. But not all brain damage are critical.
Drugs cause holes in the brain
Accurate effects of drugs on the brain- a very controversial topic. Some believe that only hard drugs have serious consequences, others believe that only the initial use of drugs causes long-term damage. Recent studies say that weed causes only minor memory loss, while others say that heavy smoking shrinks different parts of the brain. The worst myths are that ecstasy or cocaine simply bore holes in the brain.
In reality, the only thing that can make a hole in the brain is physical trauma. Researchers believe that some drugs cause long-term and short-term changes. Drugs, for example, reduce the effects of neurotransmitters (chemicals that connect signals in the brain) like dopamine. This explains the effect of why drug addicts need more and more drugs. In addition, changes in neurotransmitter levels cause problems in neuronal function. Whether this is reversible or not is also a difficult question.
On the other hand, a New Scientist study conducted in August 2008 shows that long-term use of drugs promotes the growth of brain structures, leading to permanent changes. This is why the behavior of drug addicts is difficult to change, says the study.
Alcohol kills brain cells
Observing drunk people leaves no doubt: alcohol affects the brain in the most direct way. People who drink until they're blue in the face exhibit slurred speech, impaired motor skills, and slower reaction times. Many of them have headaches, nausea and other unpleasant side effects - a hangover, in general. But like alcoholic drinks on weekends or even constant binge drinking affect the brain? And what happens to the brains of alcoholics?
Let's not be dramatic. Even in alcoholics who constantly drink alcohol, brain cells do not die. However, binge drinking causes damage to the ends of neurons - dendrites. This leads to problems transmitting messages between neurons. The cell itself is not damaged, but the way it communicates with other cells is damaged. Most of the damage is reversible, according to the researchers.
Alcoholics may develop a neurological disorder such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which can lead to the loss of neurons in parts of the brain. This syndrome causes memory problems, confusion, eye paralysis, muscle incoordination and amnesia - even death. But this is not a consequence of the effects of alcohol. This is the result of a deficiency of thiamine, an essential B vitamin. Not only are alcoholics often malnourished, but heavy alcohol consumption affects the body's absorption of thiamine.
We only use 10 percent of our brain
Many people often say that we we will use only 10(5, 7, 15 - doesn’t matter) percent of our brain. Famous figures like Albert Einstein and Margaret Mead are said to have circumvented this restriction. The myth that we only use a small part of our brain has been discussed so often in the media that it seems to have stuck around forever. Where do the legs of this absurdity come from? Many point to an early 1900s American psychologist named William James, who said that “the average man rarely reaches his maximum potential.” One way or another, many believe that we use only one tenth of the brain’s potential, and apparently this thought is generated by ten percent of the “gray matter”.
The most remarkable thing about this is the aura of mysticism. Why do we humans, having the most proportionately large brain of all animals, use only a small part of it? Do we have a great mission? Do we have hidden potential abilities? Telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, popcorn? So many books, products and anti-scientific “noodles” grew up on the development of these ideas that only a rare smart guy did not try to “turn on” the remaining 90% of his passive brain.
In fact, it's not like that. In addition to those 100 billion neurons, our heads are full of other cells that are actively working. We may shut down small areas of our brain depending on the type of activity, but there is no activity that leaves us with only 10 percent of the brain stuff working.
Showed that no matter what we do, our brain is always active. Some areas are more active at certain times than others, but unless we have brain damage, there is no part of the brain that is completely shut down. The simplest example is when you sit at the table and eat bread and sausage, your legs don’t work. You are completely immersed in the sandwich, chewing, swallowing, reading this article. But at the same time, your legs are actively working - receiving blood - even if you don’t move them. And it’s no secret that each part of the body is responsible for its own part of the brain.
Thus, from the point of view of actual brain tissue, there are no hidden or additional potentials that can be turned on and activated. But learning is never a bad thing.
How do food, alcohol, exercise, and intellectual stress affect brain function? Numerous studies allow not only to answer this question, but also to understand how to activate the brain activity of an ordinary person.
Scientists have not yet solved all the mysteries of the human brain. Unfortunately, diseases such as Alzheimer's disease remain one of these mysteries. But still, researchers can help those who want to keep their thinking organ in shape. This is completely within your power – the doctors’ advice is very simple. The main thing is to remember that the result will be noticeable if you exercise yourself regularly.
Check yourself!
This simple test will help you understand whether your brain needs help to take action in time.
1. Do you forget names, dates, phone numbers, keys?
2. Do you often doubt that you closed the door or turned off the iron?
3. Do you remember long-ago events better than what happened yesterday?
4. Can’t focus or concentrate?
5. Do you have increased workload or stress at work?
6. Are you worried about frequent headaches, dizziness, or tinnitus?
7. Do blood pressure rise?
8. Have there been cases of atherosclerosis with memory impairment in your family?
If you answered “NO” to all the questions, you have nothing to worry about – your brain is functioning perfectly!
If you answered “YES” to questions 1 to 5: you need to help your brain. A proper diet and 2-3 weeks of a healthy lifestyle will bring results.
If you answered “YES” to 6-8: your brain urgently needs help. Don't delay decisive action. Watch your diet, get more active movement in the fresh air. To prevent problems, consult a neurologist.
Cleaning the vessels
There are many reasons for body pollution: air, food and water containing harmful substances, tobacco, alcohol, medications. To restore brain function, it is necessary to cleanse the blood vessels and blood.
The passage of blood through capillaries and their walls is possible only with good permeability of cell membranes and blood fluidity. There are four main dangers that await us. The first is contamination of cells and cell membranes. The second is blockage of blood vessels and capillaries with atheroslecrotic plaques (80% of people over 30 have them!). The third is compression of blood vessels, arteries and veins by fatty deposits, which leads to a decrease in their diameter and, as a consequence, to impaired cerebral circulation. The fourth is a slowdown in the speed of blood flow, including due to insufficient fluid intake.
Please note: during the day you should drink at least 2.5 liters of liquid: this can be water, juices, tea, compote.
Before lunch, it is useful to drink a glass of apple, cabbage or carrot juice.
During lunch and dinner, try to be sure to eat onions, a clove of garlic, carrots, cabbage salad with horseradish and parsley, or a portion of buckwheat porridge. These products play the role of a kind of “broom”.
Onions, garlic and preparations made from them are very useful. They destroy atherosclerotic plaques that impede the movement of blood through the vessels of the brain.
Here is an excellent anti-sclerotic recipe: in the morning on an empty stomach, drink a glass of water with soda and lemon juice to dissolve cholesterol deposits. The next day - a glass of herbal decoction of linden blossom, clover leaves, oregano, St. John's wort, strawberries, currants, taken in equal parts, with a spoonful of viburnum and rowan jam.
Purifying the blood
- Pour a tablespoon of horseradish pulp into a glass of sour cream. Take 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day before meals.
- Mix a glass of onion juice with a glass of honey. Take 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day an hour before meals for at least a month.
- Pour 50 g of dry elecampane root into 0.5 liters of vodka, leave for 2 weeks, strain, take 1 teaspoon 3 times a day before meals for at least three months.
- Pour boiling water over lemon balm leaves, leave in a thermos, drink 40-50 g 3 times a day.
- To cleanse blood and blood vessels, try a special collection. It includes: mulberry - 5 parts, chicory, horsetail, hawthorn flowers - 4 parts each, walnut leaves, sundews, stinging nettle - 3 parts each, motherwort and flax seeds - 2 parts each, immortelle - 5 parts. One tablespoon of the mixture is poured into 200 ml of water and boiled for several minutes. Take 1/3 cup 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals. The course lasts 30 days.
The brain needs oxygen!
Exercises, thanks to which the blood and brain cells are saturated with oxygen, are very important! Let's learn some simple techniques!
Research by scientists has confirmed that breathing-hold training creates the most favorable conditions for the absorption of oxygen by the blood and proper nutrition of the brain. Practice holding your breath as you exhale, trying to gradually increase the time. Every second gained prolongs life: the alveoli in the lungs open more fully, the blood is saturated with oxygen and, enriched, enters the brain. It is advisable to perform this exercise daily.
The second important technique is rhythmic breathing. It is performed on average for 10 minutes: inhale for 8 pulse beats, hold your breath for 8 beats, exhale also stretches for 8 beats, and is followed by a new hold for 8 pulse beats.
These two exercises are enough to improve cerebral circulation if done regularly for several months. It is very useful to do this in the fresh air, for example in the country or while walking in the park.
After finishing the breathing exercises, calmly breathe in the aromas of plants, which stimulate and normalize the functioning of the heart and brain. Pepper, cloves, bay leaves, dill, coriander, fresh parsley or basil are suitable for this.
Healing aroma
Breathe often in the air filled with the aroma of roses, rose hips, bird cherry, lily of the valley, linden, oregano, mint and hops. Whenever possible, place a drop of rose oil or tea tree oil near your nose and continue with your business. Make it a rule to place a bouquet of flowers on your desk. In spring - bird cherry, lily of the valley or blooming linden, in summer - roses. And in winter, a bouquet can replace a few drops of rose oil dissolved in a cup of water.
5 most common misconceptions
The human brain, one of the greatest creations of evolution, still remains a great mystery for scientists. Scientists who study the brain say it is less knowable than space. It's no surprise that there are many misconceptions about how the brain works.
1. The opinion that the larger the brain, the smarter the person, still exists among the people. This is wrong. By the way, the largest brain weight is found in mentally ill people. By the way, research by the German scientist T. Bischof, who 120 years ago studied the mass of gray matter in two thousand representatives of various social strata, showed that the heaviest brains were not possessed by scientists or nobles, but... by workers!
2. It is also not true that developed peoples have heavier brains. For example, the British have an average brain mass of 1,346 grams, the Buryats - 1,481 g, and the Kenyans - 1,296 g, more than the French - 1,280 g.
3. The popular opinion among the people that a person’s intelligence depends on the number of convolutions of the brain and their depth is also untrue. As in the case of brain weight, it turned out that idiots have the most convolutions.
4. Neurophysiologists have completely refuted the previously held opinion that the human brain is a hopeless lazy person and only 10% of nerve cells work in it at the same time. Although individual neurons take a day off from time to time, for the most part almost all of them work diligently, even while we sleep.
5. And about one more misconception related to the work of our brain. It is generally accepted that brains differ only in mass, but are similar to each other, like enlarged or reduced photocopies of the same device. This is also a mistake - the brain of each of us is unique not only in content, but also in form.
Physical activity – yes!
Have you noticed that after active movements you think better? Blood begins to actively circulate in the body, which significantly improves brain function. At rest, the blood vessels of the brain are filled with blood only 10-20%.
Avicenna also noted that the brain is best supplied with blood, and the brain vessels are best trained when performing bends. They not only increase blood flow and improve the elasticity of blood vessels, but also promote the formation of new neural connections necessary for productive mental activity.
Do the exercises carefully at first - our blood vessels are so weak that even simple bending can cause dizziness and “floaters” flashing before the eyes. Very soon you will get used to it, and nothing will bother you. By the way, doctors have noticed that those who do headstands usually do not have strokes or other diseases associated with cerebrovascular accidents and cerebral vascular spasms.
Tilts and head rotations. Stretching your neck, throw your head back, then sharply lower it forward, trying to touch your chin to your chest. Alternately tilt your head to your left and right shoulders, trying to touch them with your ear. Also perform full head rotations, first clockwise, then counterclockwise, gradually increasing their number from 1-2 to 10 times.
Asynchronous rotations. This exercise is best done while standing, but it can also be done while sitting, since only the arms are involved in the work: the right arm is rotated towards you, and the left arm – away from you. Such asynchronous movements train both hemispheres of the brain, one of which is “responsible” for logical thinking, and the other for imaginative thinking.
Nutrition for the brain
Of the 20 known amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins, 8 are considered essential. This means that the body cannot synthesize them, but receives them from the outside, with food. Consequently, for the normal functioning of the entire organism, and the brain in particular, these amino acids must be supplied in sufficient quantities.
The essential amino acid phenylalanine is required for the synthesis of the hormones adrenaline and norepinephrine, which are responsible for the speed of the reaction. The main suppliers of phenylalanine are products of animal origin: meat, fish, poultry, milk, sour cream, cottage cheese and eggs. In the course of research, scientists found that people who ate only lean foods for a month had a decrease in reaction speed. Vegetables contain very little phenylalanine, so vegetarians need to take special measures to replenish it.
For optimal brain function and maintaining a normal mental state, especially in old age, the essential amino acid tryptophan is necessary. Some scientists believe that tryptophan prevents aging - a sufficient amount of it in food allows you to stop the aging process of cells. A lot of tryptophan is found in chicken and turkey meat, fish, cottage cheese, nuts, dates, figs, dried apricots, bananas, and grapes.
An important amino acid for the brain is lysine. The body must have enough of this essential amino acid if a person wants to think quickly and clearly into old age. The thinking process can be activated by consuming foods rich in lysine - dark chocolate, cocoa, corn, legumes, nuts, seeds, sprouted wheat and oats. Oatmeal broth is especially useful. There is a lot of this substance in products of animal origin: meat, chicken, turkey.
The essential amino acid leucine helps stimulate mental activity and strengthen memory. You need to eat more low-fat cottage cheese, sprouted rye seeds, and also drink milk (preferably goat's), eat yogurt and kefir. There is a lot of leucine in lean meats and liver.
For proper cholesterol metabolism, the body requires the amino acid methionine. Sources of methionine include egg yolks, fish, legumes, buckwheat, cabbage, carrots, green peas, oranges, watermelons and melons.
It’s not for nothing that people have a saying: “Keep your feet warm and your head cold.” Training the brain vessels with cold (washing with cold water, dousing) is also an excellent gymnastics for the brain vessels.
The head must work!
To prevent the brain from aging, it is necessary to give it work. During intense mental activity, oxygenated blood actively enters the brain cells.
For those who constantly use their intellectual potential, some deterioration in brain function occurs only in old age. Everyone knows that to strengthen muscles they need to be loaded and trained. The same thing happens with the brain: its normal functioning is possible only with daily intellectual stress. The brain of a person who reads, thinks, and reflects a lot is in a stable trained state.
But as soon as you stop loading your brain, the cells responsible for mental functions begin to die off as unnecessary. The French philosopher B. Pascal did not forget any of his magnificent aphorisms, and he had more than two thousand of them. Knowing many languages, he claimed that he never forgot a word he once learned. Seneca could repeat two thousand words after hearing them only once, in the same order in which they were spoken.
Guineas, the ambassador of King Pyrrhus in Rome, remembered the names of those gathered so well during the day that he could greet the senators and people, calling everyone by name. There is nothing incredible about this. Every person can develop such abilities through regular training. You need to start with the easiest exercises, for example, solving crosswords. This perfectly trains memory, increases erudition, makes you strain your gyrus, increasing their mobility.
Try to develop figurative memory. In the evening, in a calm environment, close your eyes and remember in detail what brought you special pleasure during the day, for example, a delicious dish. You need to feel its aroma, taste, remember how the table was set, mentally examine the plates, forks, napkins, their color, shape... Gradually you will record those phenomena or objects that you had not paid attention to before. For example, a drop of dew playing in the sun, a petal of a blossoming rose, a rainbow after the rain. It is advisable to write down the most vivid impressions.
5 of your principles
Why do these simple tips work? There is serious medical research behind them!
1. Eat foods that are good for your brain
We are what we eat, at least for the brain this is true. A diet of unhealthy foods high in trans fats can be detrimental to the functioning of your brain's synapses. Synapses create connections between neurons and are extremely important in learning and memory processes. On the other hand, a balanced diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids (found in marine fish (salmon, mackerel, salmon), walnuts and kiwi) can improve performance.
2. Play sports
Doctors say that by training the body, we make the brain work better. Physical activity is stress for the body. As a result, more energy goes into working the muscles, forcing the brain to make do with less energy. At the same time, special substances are released that make neurons stronger and healthier. Half an hour of exercise in the gym every two days is enough.
3. Puzzles
Not only the muscles of the body must work, the brain must also tense up sometimes. Puzzles, crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, memory games or intellectual games like “brain ring” are quite suitable for this. Even closely watching political debates activates systems that control attention and learning that are deeply wired into the brain.
4. Memory tricks
Remembering and retrieving memories can also be a matter of practice as you age. For example, confidence in one's abilities may actually affect memory performance, especially in older people. As we get older, we become more and more tempted to attribute everything to age, without even trying to truly remember anything. You can also improve your memory if you prepare in advance. If you have a rough idea of what you might need to remember after some time, the likelihood of successfully remembering everything is higher.
5. Rest
Sleep gives the brain time to process memories and transfer them from short-term memory to long-term memory. One study suggests that these processes occur much faster during sleep than during wakefulness. A 90-minute nap at lunchtime can help strengthen long-term memory, including the skills you're trying to learn.
Neuroscientist Barry Gordon has provided several pieces of evidence that the ten percent theory is wrong.
Brain scans using MRI and positron emission tomography showed that there were no unused areas in it. In addition, numerous studies of the brain have not found areas that do not have a specific function.
The ten percent theory contradicts the principles of evolution. The brain consumes too much energy for the body to allow it to do nothing. In full accordance with this, scientists observe the degeneration of unused brain cells.
2. People with a developed left hemisphere are more rational, and people with a developed right hemisphere are more creative.
8. We remember what happened
In fact, we remember a very limited number of visual images and sensations and are not able to grasp the entire situation even in the present moment. Remembering a story for the first time, we miss even more details; the second time, we turn not to the past situation, but to our half-erased memory of it.
If you know other common myths about the brain, please share in the comments.
Despite the fact that our brain is one of the most protected organs of the body, in case of accidents this protection is often not enough. Intracranial hematoma (bleeding) remains one of the most severe traumatic brain injuries. Neurosurgeon at the CELT clinic, Candidate of Medical Sciences Andrei Khodnevich told Pravda.ru about her treachery.
Intracranial hematoma is usually of two types. Most often the epidural, which forms above the dura mater of the brain (in Latin - dura), and the subdural - under the dura mater of the brain. Why is a hematoma dangerous? Let's imagine what's in our heads.
Inside the skull is the brain, which is washed by brain fluid and blood. All together it takes up a volume of one and a half to 2 liters. Liquids are incompressible, which means that if blood begins to pour into the cranial cavity upon impact and rupture of a vessel, then a displacement of the brain usually occurs - dislocation.
If a doctor does not intervene in this process, the patient may die. The fact is that the brain, compressed by the hematoma, begins to move, as a rule, into the foramen of the tentorium of the cerebellum and into the foramen magnum, where the head passes into the spine.
At the level of these holes in the brain stem there are motor and sensory pathways, a breathing center and a single path for the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid from the brain - a kind of water supply system. Now imagine how fast the extra volume will grow in the skull if the water supply is blocked. In this case, only surgical intervention can save the patient.
Epidural hematomas usually form in the area where the blow occurred. Subdurals, on the other hand, appear on the opposite side of the skull. It happens that a person develops two hematomas at once - both here and there. Moreover, the symptoms can be very vague.
In medical practice, there were cases when people could not realize their illness. A person, for example, has a severe headache, but he himself does not evaluate it as a headache. This happens if the right hemisphere of the brain is damaged.
It is difficult to talk about the symptoms of a hematoma. At first they may not appear at all. An accurate diagnosis in the early stages of injury can often be made only by special studies and, above all, computed tomography. Therefore, for any head injury, it is better to immediately contact a neurosurgeon or neurologist.
Fortunately for us, hematomas do not form very often. Of the total number of head injuries, they make up no more than 10%. But they are the ones that account for a large percentage of mortality. If a patient enters the hospital unconscious and with a hematoma, then his chance of survival is 50%. Here, even the equipment of the hospital fades into the background, since the brain stem is damaged.
Today, a gentle method for removing intracranial hematomas is becoming increasingly widespread. In contrast to the method of craniotomy over the entire area of the hematoma, when deep anesthesia is needed, there is a high risk of developing cerebral edema, and it is not always possible to replace the cut bone, an endoscopic method is used.
The hematoma, as a rule, has a semi-liquid state, and it can be removed through a small hole using a flexible endoscope equipped, among other things, with a video camera. This reduces the trauma of the operation and helps to clarify the extent of the hematoma. Often during surgery, we find a second hematoma next to one, which the studies did not show.
After such operations, people usually do not receive disability, as after extensive craniotomies, when the patient, in addition to defects of the skull itself, becomes a walking weather service, feeling any changes in pressure, humidity, etc.
Yes, yes, we have heard a hundred times that brains need to be pumped like muscles. But what exactly needs to be done for this? With muscles it’s clear: squat and run. What about the brains? Improve your skills with geometry problems? Chess? A new season of Rick and Morty?
Alas, there are no simple exercises here and cannot be. Brain pumping needs to be approached systematically. website and offer to see how those whose intellectual abilities cannot be doubted did it.
Do like Thomas Aquinas. For every belief you have, come up with steely counterarguments. Argue with yourself, in other words. And argue with your friends too. If among your friends there are only those who always agree with you, this is the first step towards losing touch with reality. (Just never, under any circumstances, under any circumstances get into arguments on the Internet - it’s hard to imagine a more stupid pastime.)
Do as Goethe does. Be interested not in the external effects of things and phenomena, but in their internal structure. How do the Internet and the algorithms of your favorite social networks work? What techniques are used in the song you've been listening to for two weeks now? Why and how do exchange rates change? How does your favorite director work with lighting and editing? In the world of media noise and impending techno-singularity, everything around us is a variety of riddles and puzzles. And it’s a lot of fun to solve them.
By the way, about films. Do like Guy Debord: When you watch another Hollywood bubblegum, always root for the bad guys. You'll see, even the most boring action comic will sparkle with new colors. Associate yourself not with Kevin McCallister, but with the “wet bandits”; not with Batman, but with Penguin and Joker; not with the mute cleaning lady and her sex merman, but with the angry lab worker whose scalp is peeling. This is the most effective way not to succumb to the mind-numbing hypnosis of the film industry.
Do as William Burroughs does. Or Socrates - whoever is closer. Hang out with people younger than you. It's a myth that people get smarter over the years - actually dumber, just more cautious, boring and rigid in their prejudices. Young animals will help you keep your brain in a more fluid and unpredictable state. Hemlock - optional.
Do it like Kafka. Keep a diary. No, not a blog or Twitter, but a personal diary just for myself. This will help you stay focused, improve long-term memory, and at least slightly improve your attention deficit. It’s best to simply dryly record events: dozed off at a meeting, petted the dog on the street, ate a pie, great day. Such notes marinate with time and after a few years turn into wildly interesting documents of the era.
Do like Buddha. Travel, make friends with homeless people, sleep on the streets, goof off. Explore the ins and outs of reality. Yes, it costs money, and Buddha was a major from birth. But at the very least, friendship with a homeless person is almost free pleasure. You can start today.
Do it like Da Vinci. Be different, be able to do anything. And draw a picture, and assemble an aircraft, and dissect a crocodile out of curiosity. Modern capitalism inevitably strives for us to do something highly specialized and monotonous at work. Don't give in. Change your specialties, expand your responsibilities, at least start a hobby. The New Middle Ages will not end until you personally become a Renaissance man.
