532
10 myths about the brain, in which many still believe
In a recent Hollywood masterpieces, the sci-fi thriller called "Lucy", actor Morgan Freeman appears as a world-renowned neurologist. Standing in the pulpit in a crowded students a broad audience, he says with a mysterious aspiration ... "The human being, according to scientists, is using only 10% of the brain capacity. Imagine what would happen if we get access to all 100 ". It sounds intriguing and very flattering to those who want to believe in the great potential of its own. But, unfortunately, this is not true. Neurology has long tired of such claims that have no scientific justification for a, but is widely popular among the people. And they decided to debunk the common myths associated with the brain.
Website publishes a compilation of myths that long ago it's time to let go.
We use only the part of the brain h3> In 1907, the famous psychologist William James said: "We spend only a small part of our mental and physical abilities." One journalist later quoted him incorrectly, writing that we use only 10% of brain capacity. Scan shows that a person uses every part of the brain, although not all are active simultaneously. That is why damage to any area of the brain, such as stroke, usually entails a change in mental activity and behavior.
Children become smarter by listening to classical h3> In the US state of Georgia since 1998, every newborn is presented disc of classical music, to which was attached a note from greeting the mayor. The message said: "I hope you and your child will enjoy the music and let it make your child smarter." Well, it is touching, but not scientific. The so-called "Mozart Effect" is still not adequately proven. The idea has spread after 1993 at a university in California, it was found that listening to Mozart, students performed better IQ-test than in silence. After that case no one else was able to confirm this statement. Moreover, the Harvard study in 1999 denied it completely.
In adults, new brain cells are formed h3> adult rats, rabbits and even birds are able to acquire new neurons, while over 130 years, scientists could not see the growth of new brain cells in adults. That all changed in 1998 when a team of Swedish scientists found that the new brain cells formed at participating store memories structure called the hippocampus.
Stay in a coma like a dream: you wake up refreshed and well rested h3> The movies got to someone look good. They are usually, well-groomed and combed, lie quietly in bed, and then suddenly wake up and, as if nothing had happened, begin to talk tirelessly charming smile pretty nurses, and even get up and walk around the corridors. In real life, things are different.
The male brain is designed for math and science, and women - for empathy h3> came up with this myth was guided by anything but not scientific data. Apparently, there is something personal. In fact, between male and female brains are only minor anatomical differences: the hippocampus, responsible for memory, more than women, and the amygdala is responsible for emotions more than men (not quite what you were expecting, right?). The expectations of society, rather than anatomical, force women to underestimate or even neutralize their own research capacity.
Crosswords improve memory h3> If you always thought that crosswords overrated - you were right. Scientists have found that crossword puzzles improves (note drumroll!) The ability to solve crossword puzzles. Researchers from the Medical College. Albert Einstein discovered that the original crossword puzzles delayed memory loss in people aged 75 to 85 years, but this dampening properties disappear at the first sign of dementia. Doctors say that crossword puzzles in itself is not at risk. Just do not expect that, devoting weekends crosswords, on Monday morning, you finally remember what had happened to the keys.
Information perceived better if supplied by the "right" channel h3> We've all heard about audialah and visuals, and that first learn better by hearing, and the second - visually. Psychologists from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2006 experimentally refuted this allegation. Sadly, but the way to a better assimilation of information is through repetition, testing and attendance, and not through specially developed channels of perception of students.
Alcohol kills brain cells h3> If after three or four glasses you feel not very good, it's not because your brain is dying. Scientists from the Institute of Bartolinskogo in Denmark compared the brain of alcoholics and healthy people and found that the number of neurons was similar. What is different is the efficiency of interaction of neurons. Therefore drunkenness leads to problems with speech, bipedalism and self-control. However, you already know.
psychic abilities - it is scientifically-proven fact h3> It all started in 1930 when a botanist of Duke University announced that carried out a number of experiments in which some people might guess the shapes on the cards hidden from them. Although other researchers this astonishing fact has never been confirmed, the myth has spread, especially in the ranks of the CIA during the Cold War. Division spies psychics was abolished in 1995, when the leadership became evident that psychic abilities are not real weapons. Or this fact.
Some people more developed left hemisphere, while others - the right h3> The 60th neurophysiologist Roger Sperry of the California Institute of Technology are experimenting with flashing images of letters, lights and other incentives to turn to the left and right eye test . Sperry discovered that the left hemisphere is better at dealing with verbal information, and the right - a visual and spatial. Over the following decades, these findings have been misinterpreted as dominance, particularly in the pseudo-scientific books on psychological self-help. And in 2012, psychologists at the University of British Columbia found that creative thinking enables a broad neural network covering both hemispheres.
Website publishes a compilation of myths that long ago it's time to let go.
