8 Myths About the Brain Debunked

There is a popular notion that people may either be dominated by their right or left brain hemispheres. according to this notion, right-brained people are more creative and expressive while left-brained people are more analytical and logical.

However, as fun and as spunky as this notion might seem, it isn't really true. It has been proven that we do better at tasks when the entire brain is utilized, even for things that are typically associated with a certain area of the brain.

The concept of humans having the biggest brain in regards to proportion to body size is untrue - it's another misconception.

Although we have a brain that weighs 3 lbs and measures 15 cm in length, the largest animal brain belongs to the sperm whale and it weighs a whopping 18 lbs, following second by the elephant with an 11 lbs brain.

If we're comparing brain size in proportion to body size, the shrew holds the title, due to its brain making up 10% of its body mass.

We've been long told that adults have only so many brain cells and that we never form new ones and that once these cells are lost, they're gone for good.

However, in recent years, experts have discovered evidence that the statement above isn't true. The human adult brain does indeed still form new cells throughout life, even during old age.

This process of forming new brain cells is known as neurogenesis and it happens in the area of our brain called the hippocampus.

While excessive and chronic alcohol abuse can certainly have dire health consequences, researchers do not believe that drinking causes neurons to die.

No one can really trace back to where this notion of the human brain having a hundred billion neurons started but a researcher named Suzana Herculano-Houzel, decided to actually count it, the amount is not too far off.

The actual count is closer to 85 billion neurons.

Learning styles suggest that our brain has a preferred method of intaking knowledge. One popular theory suggests that our brains may prefer visual learning over kinesthetic and as fun as this sounds there is little research to back up this concept.

A large-scale study was done but found no evidence to support the use of learning style assessment instruments.