We use the whole brain, although not all at once. And it is that using all the regions of the brain at the same time would not make any sense, it would be an unforgivable waste of resources. But it is not a monotonous or boring or homogeneous organ. It is so diverse and complicated that different parts of our brain do different things depending on what we do or feel. The origin of the myth that we do not use 100% of the brain goes back to the father of modern psychology William James, but his statement is not true.
1. Since when do we know that we have an immune system?
Although we already know that the immune system does not rest, that while we watch television or take a walk in the park, it works to defend us from external and internal aggressions. But, since when do we know about the immune system? You’ll be surprised. According to “An amazing journey inside the human body” by Nicolás Medrano and Daniel Prefasi, the oldest reference to immunity occurs during the plague of Athens in 430 BC , at which time Thucydides realized that some people who who had recovered from a previous outbreak could help other patients without getting infected a second time. This observation of the Athenian military and historian was later used by Louis Pasteur for the development of modern vaccination.
2. Viruses are considered non-living organisms
You know why? It is simple. They lack their own biological machinery to replicate themselves , so they can only reproduce when they infect living cells. In fact, they cannot multiply by cell division nor do they have metabolism. In essence, a virus is just an infectious biological entity that can only multiply inside other organisms.
3. Our microbiota weighs about 2 kilos
The microbiota or intestinal flora is the population of microbes that inhabit our intestines. The volume of bacteria in our body is quite striking: in a person weighing about 70 kilos, there are about 2 kg of intestinal microbiota. Surprised? It is the amount that the body needs to digest food, produce vitamins (B and K) and even defend itself against the attacks of harmful microorganisms. We have more than 1,000 different species inside.
4. How many neurons are there in our brain?
In just 1,400 grams of brain we have about 80,000 million neurons, that is, there are more neurons in a human being than there are human beings on Earth. In turn, each neuron establishes between 5,000 and 50,000 connections with neighboring neurons, which is equivalent to building a neural network of about 100 billion connections. No wonder we keep saying that the brain is the most complicated known object in the universe.
5. How much does the brain weigh at birth?
When we are born, our brain weighs about 350 grams, which almost triples in size during the first two years of life, to reach an average weight of 1.4 kilos. Despite this figure, the human brain is up to almost five times smaller than the largest brain in the animal kingdom : that of the sperm whale. His brain can reach 8 kilograms in weight.
