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We Use only 10 Per Cent of The Brain Myth
Introduction to Cognitive Thinking
The essay aims at answering the most debatable question that is do human use only 10 per cent of the brain while performing activities or it is a myth? The brain is one of the most complex parts of the body organ. It weighs 300 pounds and contains 100 billion neurons. These neurons carry the information and they are responsible for performing various acts, it composes music and even comes up with solutions for the real-world problems. It is well-spring of behaviour and human feelings and repository of memories that a person experiences in life (Varoquaux et al. 2017). It is thus said that humans brain is a mysterious organ which is difficult for even human to interpret.
The quote which states that we use only 10 per cent of the brain was associated with Albert Einstein how used it to explain the concept of cosmic towering intellects (Colombo 2018). To understand the reason behind the statement an American psychologist and famous author Williams John argued on the energies of the men. They were arguing on the fact that does human use only a small part of the human brain and physical resources or they use it completely. They argued with one another stating that if humans start employing the rest 90 per cent of the brain than they would be able to remember the twenty thousandth decimal value which is not possible for anyone without having telekinetic powers (Duffau 2019). They both did not conclude because of lack of evidence.
Neurologist Barry Gordon stated that 10 per cent usage of the brain is a myth. Gordon further stated that the assumption of myths durability depends on the conception of the human brain about their shortcomings which they take as a piece of evidence for the existence of untapped grey matter is false. Gordon emphasized the fact that sometimes there are some moments in life where people are in sleeping or thinking phase (Hutch et al. 2017). It may happen that the brain might be using only 10 per cent of itself. He also claimed that the brain is active all the time and people do not even come to know that they are utilizing all parts of it virtually.
The brain comprises of the cerebrum which helps the humans to perform complex cognitive functions. It is the largest part of the brain and is responsible for motor functions which include coordination between movement and balance, breathing and so on. According to the scientist, the brain consumes the largest amount of energy, it fires millions of neurons. These neurons communicate with one another and help humans to perform complex functions (Mundale 2017). The rest of the energy of the brain is used for controlling other conscious and unconscious activities of the human body like heart rate, driving a car and so on. It is also identified in research that all the parts of the brain do not work at a given moment. The neurons present in the brain are fired non-concurrently. They stated that the brain is like a body muscle that remains active 24 hours a day. John Henley through evidence proved that a person utilizes 100 per cent of the brain over the day. John further stated that even when a person is falling asleep, frontal cortex controls the higher thinking level and self-awareness in humans. It even works in somatosensory areas to help people sense about their nearby surroundings.
Let’s take a simple example to understand that all parts of the brain activate when we perform functions. A person wakes up in the morning, goes to the kitchen, take out a mug, pour coffee in it, keep an extra room for cream and add sugar to prepare emerging morning coffee. When a person does all the above-mentioned activities, he or she activates the parietal lobes, monetary sensors, cerebrum, occipital, sensory-motor cortices, basal ganglia and so on. It is observed that within a fraction of the second neuronal activity light storm across the brain. To measure the brain activity, brain imaging technique was developed. This technique helps in measuring the activity of the brain when a person is indulging in performing different tasks together. The technique is known as functional magnetic brain resonance (Murtaugh 2016). It was also found that the brain contains only 10 per cent of the neuron rest 90 per cent are glial that support neurons to perform functions.
Another researcher added humans would not be able to perform any activity if their brain gets damaged. Some people in the world had some injuries in the brain or had removed the entire part from the body to survive (Bloom et al. 2018). It was found that these people were fairly able to live a normal life because the brain has the power to compensate and make sure that the little part which is left helps in performing the activities on daily basis. The doctors when performing the surgery takes care of the brains part so that brain can retain as many functions as possible. It is because neurons tend to culture together to perform similar functions. For example, the neuron present for the movement of the brain will have another neuron close to it to perform the movement of the forefinger. This indicates that brain mapping needs to be understood properly by the experts before taking any part out of it. It is due to this fact, neuronal surgeons avoid the clusters of vision, movement and hearing. The experts failed to understand how neuron present in the diverse region collaborates to perform in a conscious sense.
Conclusion on Cognitive Thinking
It can be concluded from the above findings that the there are certain moments where only 10 per cent of the brain works these include when the person is sleeping or thinking sitting on the couch without any work but there are other moments as well when the 100 per cent brain is utilized for performing the complex task which needs cognitive thinking. There is various evidence which proves that every part of the brain gets activate when a person performs the task. It is sufficient to conclude that 10 per cent of the brain usage is a myth.
References for Cognitive Thinking
Bloom, B., Thomas, S., Ahrensberg, J.M., Weaver, R., Fowler, A., Bestwick, J., Harris, T. and Pearse, R. 2018. A systematic review and meta-analysis of return to work after mild Traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 32(13-14), pp.1623-1636.
Colombo, J.A., 2018. A critical view of the quest for brain structural markers of Albert Einstein’s special talents (a pot of gold under the rainbow). Brain Structure and Function, 223(5), pp.2515-2518.
Duffau, H. 2019. The brain: Anatomy and function. Futuribles, (4), pp.25-34.
Hutch, A., Bekele, A., O’Flynn, E., Ndonga, A., Tierney, S., Fualal, J., Samkange, C. and Erzingatsian, K., 2017. The brain drain myth: retention of specialist surgical graduates in East, Central and Southern Africa, 1974–2013. World Journal of Surgery, 41(12), pp.3046-3053.
Mundale, J. 2017. Brain mapping. A Companion to Cognitive Science, pp.129-139.
Murtaugh, A.L. 2016. Myth to Reality? The Pedagogical Connection Between Neuromyths and Classroom Instruction (Doctoral dissertation, Johns Hopkins University).
Varoquaux, G., Raamana, P.R., Engemann, D.A., Hoyos-Idrobo, A., Schwartz, Y. and Thirion, B., 2017. Assessing and tuning brain decoders: cross-validation, caveats, and guidelines. NeuroImage, 145, pp.166-179.
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