Some Interesting Facts about the Human Brain

This is a short informative article about the human brain and is intended to give you a better understanding of the most complex organ in the human body.

Gaining better understanding of this organ will enable you to protect, control and even improve the function of this organ, which accounts for only 2% of your body weight but has 100 billion neurons (brain’s cells) and over a trillion connections in the brain. A higher number of connections between neurons is related to an increase in knowledge, memory and higher executive function.

The executive functions of the brain are in charge of daily tasks. When you want to solve any kind of problem, whether technical or emotional, or if you want to plan something, you use executive functions. Executive functions control your emotions, including fear or anger.

Full brain development takes 25 years for females and 28 years for males. This can help shed light on teenagers’ behaviour, as their brain is not yet fully developed brain! They are emotional and wild, have less self-control and are responding to a lot of pressure from those around them.

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the CEO of the brain. This part of the brain is what separates humans from other animals. 30% of the human brain is composed of the PFC. The brain of our closest “relatives”, chimpanzees, is composed of only 11% PFC.

When the PFC is not functioning properly, executive functions also cannot work properly. People with a PFC injury cannot control their thoughts. The PFC is considered humans’ “brake system”. We know what is appropriate or inappropriate to say and we have the PFC system, which allows us to control our thoughts. People with a damaged PFC say whatever comes to mind, including embarrassing things; this is a result of a change in their behavioural motivation.

Human behaviour is either driven by will or by the brain. Normal behaviour is will-driven behaviour; when you want to say or do something, you simply do or say it. Brain-driven behaviour is the result of dysfunctional, injured or intoxicated brain. A person with a brain injury often says or does things not because of his/her will, but because of the brain injury.

Finally, drugs and alcohol have a huge impact on the brain’s function, especially with young users. Alcohol and opiates suppress brain function, which results in poor decision-making and an overall disregard for consequences.

Taking the time to understand and respect your brain will ensure that you live a long and happy life.