Human brain facts

- Your brain uses 20% of your body's energy, but it makes up only 2% of your body's weight.

- Your cerebral cortex is about as thick as a tongue depressor. It grows thicker as you learn and use it.

- Your brain is about 1300-1400 cubic centimeters in volume, about the size of a cantaloupe and wrinkled like a walnut.

- The brain feels like a ripe avocado and looks pink because of the blood flowing through it.

- Your brain generates 25 watts of power while you're awake --- enough to Illumina a light bulb.

- A newborn baby's brain grows almost 3 times in course of first year

- Humans have the most complex brain of any animal on earth.

- Your brain is divided into two sides. The left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, and, the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body.

- Toxins in commonplace items such as carpeting and shower Curtains May be Contributing to memory loss over time?

- Overexposure to aluminum compounds-in foil, cookware, Deodorants, antacids, toothpaste-can affect brain function

- Lavender can help you sleep

- A cooked potato can jump-start your brain when you're feeling foggy.

- The essential oil of Jasmine can quickly restore mental alertness

- Eating foods rich in vitamin E, beta-Carotene, and Vitamin C may help lower your risk of Alzheimer's disease.

- Certain prescription and nonprescription drugs may dramatically affect your ability to concentrate.

- Food and intelligence. A study of one million students in New York showed that students who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, dyes and 14% did better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives.

- Seafood. In the March 2003 edition of Discover magazine, and the report describes how people in a 7-year study who ate seafood at least one time every week had a 30% lower occurrence of dementia.

- Estrogen and memory. Estrogen (found in both men and women) has been shown to promote better memory functions.

-Insulin. Insulin works to Regul blood-sugar in the body, but recently, scientists have discovered that its presence in the brain also helps promote memory.

- Symbolism. As those who invest in dream dictionaries can Attest dreams almost never represent what they actually are. The unconscious mind strives to make connections with concepts you will understand, so dreams are largely symbolic representations.

- Adenosine. Caffeine works to block naturally occurring adenosine in the body, creating alertness. Scientists have recently discovered this connection and learned that doing the opposite-boosting adenosine-can actually help promote more natural sleep patterns and help eliminate insomnia.

-Dream showings. Japanese researchers have successfully developed a technology that can put thoughts on a screen and may soon be able to screen people's dreams.


- Albert Einstein. Einstein's brain was similar in size to other humans except in the region that is responsible for math and spatial perception. In that region, his brain was 35% wider than average.

- London taxi drivers. Famous for knowing all the London streets by heart, these drivers have a larger than normal hippocampus, especially the drivers who have been on the job longest. The study suggests that as people memorize more and more information, this part of their brain continues to grow.

- VI Lenin. After his death, Lenin's brain was studied and found to have an abnormally large and numerous neurons in a particular region that may explain his "strikingly acute and penetrating mental processes" for which he was famous.