Myths About the Brain Functionality Essay

Myths About the Brain Functionality Essay

Myths About the Brain Functionality Essay

Question Description

I’m studying for my Biology class and need an explanation.

Brain Damage Isn’t Always Permanent
The brain is fragile and can be damaged by things such as injury, stroke, or disease. This damage can result in a range of consequences, from mild disruptions in cognitive abilities to complete impairment. Brain damage can be devastating, but is it always permanent?

A person’s ability to recover from brain damage depends upon the severity and the location of the injury. For example, a blow to the head during a football game might lead to a concussion. While the injury can be quite serious, most people can recover when given time to heal. A severe stroke, on the other hand, can result in damage that can very well be permanent.

However, it is important to remember that the human brain has an impressive amount of plasticity. Even following a serious brain event, such as a stroke, it is possible for the brain to partially or fully heal itself over time and form new connections.

People Aren’t Fully Right- or Left-Brained
Have you ever heard someone describe themselves as either left-brained or right-brained? This idea stems from the popular notion that people are either dominated by their right or left brain hemispheres. According to this idea, people who are “right-brained” are believed to be more creative and expressive, while those who are “left-brained” are positioned as more analytical and logical.

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While experts do recognize that there is lateralization of brain function (that is, certain types of tasks and thinking tend to be more associated with a particular region of the brain), no one is fully right-brained or left-brained.

In fact, we tend to do better at tasks when we engage the entire brain, even for things that are typically associated with a certain area of the brain.

Humans Don’t Have the Biggest Brains
The human brain is quite large in proportion to human body size, but humans don’t have the largest brains of any organism. How big is the human brain? How does it compare to other species?

The average adult brain weighs about 3 pounds and measures about 15 centimeters in length.2 The largest animal brain belongs to that of a sperm whale, weighing in at a whopping 18 pounds! Another large-brained animal is the elephant, with an average brain size of around 11 pounds (5 kilograms).3

But what about relative brain size in proportion to body size? Though the proportion of the human brain to the human body is larger than many animals, the notion that it’s the largest is also inaccurate. Surprisingly, one animal with a larger brain-to-body weight ratio than humans is the shrew, with a brain that makes up about 10% of its body mass.

New Brain Cells May Form Throughout Life
Traditional wisdom has long suggested that adults only have so many brain cells and that we never form new ones. Once these cells are lost, are they gone for good? Experts have uncovered evidence that the human adult brain does indeed form new cells throughout life, even during old age.

The process of forming new brain cells is known as neurogenesis, and researchers have found that it happens in at least one important region of the brain called the hippocampus.4

It’s worth noting, however, that research on this topic is mixed, and some neuroscientists don’t consider this a proven theory, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH).5