The Amazing Brain
Our brain is an amazing organ.
It weighs about three (3) pounds and more than triples in size between the time we are born and when it stops growing at about the age of six. The human brain has an average of 100,000,000,000 (100 Billion) neurons. The brain is the most complex living structure. The brain controls the functions of the rest of the body and receives all sensory input. It is the seat of our personality, our decision making center and the machine which lets us walk, talk or think. It can be rewired to pass functions from a damaged area to one that works. It can even allow humans to learn to echolocate like bats. And yet, it is mostly fat.
All of the brain's work makes it a very hungry organ. It consumes about 20% of the energy our bodies spend each day. A day thinking can tax you as much as a day of physical activity.
I would write more but my brain is tired.
Until tomorrow's post, here are Lyn's bowling scores from today.
She had a great day today. Someone did something very nice for her and she's downright giddy about it. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
Additional Information Sources:
New Scientist: Introduction: The Human Brain
Brain Cuttings by Carl Zimmer
Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century by Carl Shoonover
Neurologica Blog: Human Echolocation
National Geographic's Brain Games
It weighs about three (3) pounds and more than triples in size between the time we are born and when it stops growing at about the age of six. The human brain has an average of 100,000,000,000 (100 Billion) neurons. The brain is the most complex living structure. The brain controls the functions of the rest of the body and receives all sensory input. It is the seat of our personality, our decision making center and the machine which lets us walk, talk or think. It can be rewired to pass functions from a damaged area to one that works. It can even allow humans to learn to echolocate like bats. And yet, it is mostly fat.
All of the brain's work makes it a very hungry organ. It consumes about 20% of the energy our bodies spend each day. A day thinking can tax you as much as a day of physical activity.
I would write more but my brain is tired.
Until tomorrow's post, here are Lyn's bowling scores from today.
She had a great day today. Someone did something very nice for her and she's downright giddy about it. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
Additional Information Sources:
New Scientist: Introduction: The Human Brain
Brain Cuttings by Carl Zimmer
Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century by Carl Shoonover
Neurologica Blog: Human Echolocation
National Geographic's Brain Games
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