March 13th through the 19th is known as Brain Awareness Week. It started in 1993 by a foundation called The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, which was founded in 1950, to bring awareness to brain science, and advocating for science funding. Our brains are amazing. They are the command centers for our nervous systems, receiving input for sensory organs and output for the muscles. The average brain weighs about three pounds, and has the same basic structure as other mammals. There are two different "matters" known as grey--with about 86 billion nerve cells or neurons, and white--the billions of nerve fibers called axons and dendrites. Through science class, we learn that the brain has two hemispheres, which is called the cerebrum. Underneath that sits the brainstem, and behind it the cerebellum. The brain has four lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital. The occipital lobe is located at the back of the skull and is responsible for visual processing. Sound and language is in the temporal lobe, along with the amygdala and hippocampus which plays roles in emotion and memory. Spatial orientation and navigation is processed in the parietal lobe. Some quick facts:
- The brain is the fattiest organ at 60%.
- It is 73% water, which means that if you have about 2% dehydration, your brain is affected quickly--attention and memory will decrease and you will get foggy.
- Not all brain cells are alike. There are roughly 10,000 specific types of neurons in the brain.
- After about five minutes with no oxygen, the brain can suffer damage.
- The brain reaches full maturity at the age of 25.
- The sperm whale has the largest brain, weighing in at 17lbs.
- Everyone has a "second brain" located in their intestines, containing 100,000 neurons.
- Sadly, we are not getting smarter, as IQ's have dropped 1.6 points, and the brain has actual shrunk down over the last 10,000 years.