• Question: if we only use a part of your brain , why do we have such a big brain then ?

    Asked by reegan to Joe, Nick on 26 Mar 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Nick Bradshaw

      Nick Bradshaw answered on 26 Mar 2010:


      Our entire brain has (as far as I am aware) some sort of function. When people say we only use part of the brain I hthink this means that we only use part of it for contios thought/decision making/daydreaming etc, while the rest of our brain works on more automatic things like keeping our body running.

      Joe do you know any more about this?

    • Photo: Joseph Devlin

      Joseph Devlin answered on 26 Mar 2010:


      Hi reegan,

      Another great Q. Turns out it’s just a myth that we only use part of our brain. We use the whole thing all the time. In fact, any part that isn’t used for roughly 3 minutes will die — that’s how busy the brain is.

      Brains are metabolically expensive, too! Your brain uses roughly 20% of your entire calorie input — which is far more than any other organ. So the body wouldn’t pay this price if it weren’t using every part of the brain all the time.

      Thanks!

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