THE BRAIN!

Your brain is the most complex, mind-blowing organ in the Universe

It is estimated to be only about 3 pounds, which is usually around 2 percent of your body’s weight.  

Unbelievably, given that it is the bedrock of your personality, some think even your soul, it is 85% water!  

It is estimated that the brain has 100 billion nerve cells and more connections in it than there are stars in the universe, which is about the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. 

There are also trillions of supportive cells in the brain called glia.  

A piece of brain tissue the size of a grain of sand contains 100,000 neurons and 1 billion synapses, all "talking" to one another.

Information in your brain travels at about 268 miles per hour, unless of course you are drunk, then things really slow down. 

Even though your brain is only about 2% of your body’s weight, about 3 pounds, it uses 20-30% of the calories you consume.

If you don’t take care of your brain, you lose on average 85,000 brain cells a day.     That is what causes aging.   With appropriate forethought, however, you can reverse that trend and dramatically slow the aging process.

Your brain is the consistency of soft butter, tofu, custard or somewhere between egg whites and jello.

At times during pregnancy, the baby’s brain makes 250,000 new nerve cells per minute.

Babies are born with 100 billion neurons; however, only a relatively small number of neurons are connected.  

At age 11, the brain begins to prune extra connections at a rapid rate. The circuits that remain are more specific and efficient.  

The brain is one of the best examples of the “use it or lose it” �principle.   Connections that are used repeatedly in the early years become permanent; while those that are not used are pruned.  

The knowledge of brain development into adulthood is critical to disseminate.   Early smoking, drug or alcohol abuse, and brain injuries from risky sports all have the potential to disrupt brain development, in some cases permanently.

There are three distinct areas of the brain, controlling our instincts (brain stem), our emotions (limbic system), and our thoughts (cortex).  

The brain is also divided into the left and right hemispheres, or halves.   The left side is often known as the detail oriented, get to the point, speech and happiness center; while the right side is known as being more fretful, more creative, and holistic processing center.  

The human brain is dependent on proper stimulation to grow and develop in healthy ways throughout childhood and to maintain its functioning into old age.  

When you stimulate neurons in the right way, you make them more efficient; they function better, and you are more likely to have an active, learning brain throughout your life.  

The best sources of stimulation for the brain are physical exercise, mental exercise, and social bonding, which will be discussed in greater detail later on.

Brain Scans

Alzheimer’s Disease in brain

The following pics. are results of drug abuse

Faces of Meth

Meth

Physical fetal alcohol effects

alcoholic