Brain Facts: Features and Development

The human brain is one of the most fascinating creations of the universe and it’s essential to know some interesting brain facts.

Even though it’s right here, ready to be studied, brain scientists have managed to discover only so much about it. And it’s not because they are not trying, it’s simply too hard to understand it. 

The US national health institutes spend roughly around $4.5 billion on research, yet valuable findings are still limited compared to how much there is yet to be explored.

In this article, we’re going to go over a lot of interesting and important facts about the brain. If you want to have a sneak peek into the details and stats about brain research and how powerful it is, read and learn more about it!

The Most Important Human Brain Facts and Stats

1. There’s 25% cholesterol in the brain.

When the doctor tells you to lower your cholesterol, shock them with some facts about the human brain. 25% of the entire body’s cholesterol is located in the brain. Without it, the brain cells would die.

2. The brain of a 2-year-old is already 80% developed.

There’s a reason why babies have such disproportionate heads compared to their bodies. The infant brain development facts show that it grows at a tremendous rate. By the age of two, it is almost fully grown.

3. Brain information’s speed is 268 miles per hour.

Even though we can’t see it, scientists could measure it. One of the amazing facts about the brain is that the information travels within it at 268 miles per hour. That said, it takes some time for the brain to send signals to your feet. 

For example, the speed of a standard jetliner in the sky is 560 mph. These facts about the brain and the nervous system tell us that it may not be the speed of light. But luckily for us, the feet are pretty close to our brains.

4. Our brain produces around 50,000 thoughts a day.

People are overthinking sometimes. In today’s episode of  “Interesting facts about psychology and the brain” – the brain produces 50,000 thoughts a day. People suffering from stress and anxiety have even more. 

5. Modern technology makes the human brain evolve.

We like to say that we are multitasking but this is just brain myths and facts. The brain is not capable of doing two things at once. But it can switch from one to the other very fast.

It looks like multitasking to us, but facts about your brain say the opposite. So, with each generation, the brain gets smarter and more competent.

6. We use a full 100% of our brains.

That fact that we use only 10% of our brains?

A lie. 

Medical facts about the brain show that we use all of it and even when we sleep, we use most of it.

7. The brain’s memory is like constructing a puzzle.

Every memory we produce is being stored somewhere in our brain.

The human brain facts on memory say that when we need them at a certain moment, the brain pulls them from different places. Then, it makes a puzzle to create the whole picture.

8.The brain is soft and squishy.

Another one of the cool facts about the brain – it is soft and can be pressed with a finger. Since there are no bones or anything hard, touching it can deform the brain.

9. Brains can’t feel pain.

Even though it processes all feelings including pain, you won’t feel any if someone hits your brain with a stick. The interesting facts about the brain say that there are no receptors and because of this, the brain can’t feel pain. 

That’s why brain surgery facts say that operations can be done without any anesthesia.

The center of the pain and the feeling of touch is in the brain stem. However, touching the stem is not going to do anything special. 

The facts about the brain stem point out that nerves take the information into it, but get no information out of it. So you won’t feel anything by touching your brain.

10. The brain is made of 73% water.

A lot of people are not aware of this but it’s one of the most interesting facts about the human brain. Just 2% of its dehydration can lead to problems with memory, functioning, etc.

11. Our brain has 86 billion brain cells.

No one can count them precisely, of course, but the brain cells facts so far tell us that we have almost 100 billion of them. This means each of our brains is a mini power plant able to produce around 20 watts of energy.

12. Just 5 minutes without oxygen makes the brain severely damaged.

A lot of facts about brain injury point out that serious damage can occur because the brain was cut off from oxygen for just a few minutes.

Even though it takes only 2% of the entire body mass, the brain uses around 20% of the total oxygen intake.

13. The brain keeps developing until the age of 25.

The teenage brain development facts conclude that young people exiting puberty don’t yet have completely developed brains. This process ends at the age of 25.

The teenage brain facts say that teens’ brains develop at the rate of 90% to 95% but it’s not complete yet.

14. Men’s brains are 10% bigger than women’s.

Sure, this doesn’t mean men are smarter. But the male brain vs female brain facts give men a slight advantage when it comes to this. It may be sexist, but this is a medical fact.

15. Constant stress makes your brain smaller.

Yale’s research about anxiety and the brain revealed facts that are not exactly good. Depression and chronic anxiety apparently make the brain smaller. A common way to combat anxiety is using prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines—learn about the effects that Xanax has on the brain.

However, be wary—using antidepressants can cause severe withdrawal symptoms such as brain zaps.

16. The left vs. right hemisphere theory is completely false.

You’ve probably heard about the theory that people are either left or right-brained. But recent reports say that this is completely false.

Moreover, recent MRI scans and research show that for people to do anything, the whole brain must be involved. 

17. The brain never stops developing in certain segments, brain facts say.

Even though we said the age of 25 is the end of brain development, this is not completely true.  This is only about physical growth.

When it comes to inner development, the aging brain facts say that some parts grow old very fast and others climax at a very late age. Moreover, vocabulary skills improvement ends at around the age of 70.

18. The brain has 125-150ml of liquid around it at all times.

To protect itself, the brain has created and maintains cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Brain injury facts claim that lots of more serious injuries were avoided because of it.

Humans normally have 125-150ml of CSF. About 20-24ml of it is produced per hour.

19. The brain is a master of prediction.

Long-time ago, the brain had to adapt to its surroundings and protect itself from predators.

Today, one of the most amazing facts about the human brain is that we can use it to read sentences even if the letters are not in the right order.

According to these cool brain facts, the brain sees the words as a whole and doesn’t pay too much attention to letters. 

20. There’s a special barrier that protects the brain from viruses coming through the blood.

There’s a liter of blood going through the brain every minute, facts about the brain show. This amount of blood might get all kinds of stuff into the bloodstream.

In order to avoid problems, it invented a barrier that stops unwanted stuff from getting into the brain.

However, the brain health facts explain that this barrier isn’t on top of its game every time. So actually, lots of things can impact the brain through the blood.

21. Every brain cell needs constant fueling with glucose.

Brain cells’ fuel is glucose. They need constant feeding with it according to the facts about the brain cell. If for any reason this stops, the liver comes to the rescue.

It breaks down the body fat to offer a substitute food for them until the real deal comes back.

22. There are 700,000 Americans with brain tumors. 

At this moment, the brain tumor facts say that there are around 700,000 people living with tumors in the USA.

23. Every year around 87,000 Americans are diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Facts about brain cancer tell us that each year the rate of people being diagnosed with a brain tumor is enormous. Almost 90,000 thousand new brain tumor patients will get into the disease’s statistics next year.

24. More than 50,000 people die because of brain injuries every year.

The traumatic brain injury facts say that yearly in the US there are over 2.5 million patients looking for help because of TBI. In 2014, 56,800 people died because of it.

25. Around 6.5 million people in the States have brain aneurysms.

The most common reason for brain stroke is an aneurysm. The brain aneurysm facts say that every 50th person has an unruptured aneurysm that may cause severe damage at any moment.

26. 30,000 people experience aneurysm rupture every year.

The brain aneurysm statistics and facts show that this is one of the most serious brain problems. In the USA, someone suffers from it every 18 minutes.

27. Gamma brain waves are the reason you’re capable of learning.

Gamma brain waves’ facts aren’t quite as popular as they should be if you ask us. These waves are being produced in the thalamus and go from the back of the brain to the front.

Interestingly, the brain’s frontal lobe can go back and forward up to 40 times per second.

The gamma waves are associated with many important cognitive skills, like emotions, language, sexual behavior, and so on.

Some interesting facts about the brain and learning show that the faster these waves move, the higher the ability to learn people have.

28. Good music nurtures the brain.

All facts about how music affects the brain show us that it’s good in every sense. For example, music helps the brain produce dopamine, endorphins, and reduces the level of cortisol.

Dopamine makes us feel happy, endorphins create a feeling of euphoria, and cortisol is responsible for stress. These facts about music and the brain should be just enough to convince you to turn up the volume.

29. 90 minutes of sweating makes the brain temporarily age for a year.

This is one of the fun facts about the brain. It turns out that exercise and heavy sweating for 90 minutes makes our brain shrink as it would if it worked for a year.

What a great excuse to skip the gym today! 

30. Exercise is the best food for the brain.

About the connection between the brain and exercise, facts say it is the best one you can build for helping your brain. By exercising, your heart rate becomes faster and it pumps more blood.

That way, more oxygen is delivered to the brain. The exercise and the brain facts show us that this is the best way to “feed” your brain and keep it healthy.

Other Interesting Features of the Brain

31. Around 70% of the thoughts produced daily by the brain are negative.

One of the really interesting brain facts is that the brain can be pretty annoying. Around 70% of all thoughts are fears, pessimistic or self-judging.

32. The brain is a notorious liar. 

Did you ever swear that you remember how something happened and then turned out you were wrong? Well, memory facts about the brain say that your brain often changes certain memories.

A lot of things during our life can affect the process of storing information and human brain memory facts might turn out pretty unreliable.

33. The brain cells can form a line that’s 400 miles long.

The brain cell facts say that there are enough of them in the brain to make a path of 400 miles. Impressive, huh? 

34. The brains of extroverts and introverts have significant differences.

We might think that we are all the same if we compare our internal organs. However, facts about the human brain and how it works show that there are actual differences between extroverts and introverts.

The introvert’s brain has more gray matter, while the extrovert’s center for dopamine is more developed.

35. We’re capable of working 1016 processes per second.

We mentioned that the human brain is far more powerful than any invented computer, not even the most advanced artificial intelligence system.

Basic brain facts explain that we’re capable of doing 1016 processes per second, which is extremely fast. 

That’s why we can switch between different tasks so fast. We can talk, walk, and blink at the same time! This could probably explain why AI statistics show that 38% still believe human beings deliver better service than AIs. 

36. Albert Einstein’s brain weighed 18% below average.

According to brain statistics and facts, Einstein was one of the most intelligent people of all time.

Interestingly, his brain weighed in at about 2.71 pounds (1.23 kg). That makes the brain of the genius 18% below average. 

37. Sperm whales have the biggest brains in the world.

Even though humans’ brains are the most powerful, they are far from the biggest in nature. One of the fascinating facts about the brain is that ours are only 3.3 pounds tops.

Meanwhile, sperm whales’ brains weigh up to 20 pounds (7 to 9 kilograms), while elephants’ brains weigh 11 pounds. 

38. Chimps and humans have a brain similarity of 98%.

Here’s one of the mind-blowing facts about the brain you may not be aware of – it’s 98% similar to the chimpanzee’s brain!

It is so because they both have the same ancestors. Around 13 million years ago they split on different evolutionary paths.

Since then, only 2% of our brains have changed and this is just enough for us to be on top of the brain evolution process and them to be just a part of the animal kingdom.

Children’s Brain Development Facts

39. Until kids reach their teenage years, their brain is almost fully grown in size.

The brain of teenagers is completely grown and it won’t grow in size any further. However, this doesn’t mean it’s not going to develop more.

The facts about the teenage brain say that the brain will be fully grown at the age of 14. Girls will reach this phase faster than boys.

40. The baby’s brain will double in size during the first three months after birth.

At the age of 3 months, the brain is already at 55%. Based on child brain development facts, it will more than double since its birth. Moreover, it will only grow 35-40% more in the next 15-20 years.

41. The baby’s brain consumes 60% of its entire energy.

The early brain development facts show that a baby’s brain consumes 60% of its entire energy. Most of this is glucose which is the main ingredient the brain needs, say brain development facts.

42. The child’s brain is like a sponge.

Children’s brain development facts show that their brain is much different than those of adults in every sense. Interestingly, they accumulate information faster than adults.

In fact, violent homes have the same effect on the child’s brain as the war itself has on soldiers.

43. Babies can learn 300 words more if you stimulate their brains.

According to some facts about brain development, the child whose parents often talk to them can learn up to 300 words more than children who are not being talked to.

Key Takeaways

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The brain truly is fascinating, isn’t it? And to think there’s so much more yet to be discovered!

It is an amazingly complex machine that is superior to anything we know around us.

So keep all those brain nutrition facts in mind and make sure to play your brain some happy music! Taking care of yourself is what matters the most, after all. 

Till next time!

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