10 Incredible Facts About The Human Brain That Will Surprise You
Scientists have already studied the structure and functioning of our body well. But the brain still holds many secrets. Moreover, the deeper researchers delve into its study, the more new questions arise. Because of this, even a separate science appeared - neurobiology. Researchers constantly make unexpected discoveries, and how many more amazing things await us ahead, no one can say. Let's find out 10 interesting facts about the human brain that will probably be new to you.
Some people have an amazing ability to wake up without an alarm clock at exactly the right time. If you are one of them, you can consider yourself lucky. Even if you forget to set the alarm, you will not oversleep. This feature of the brain cannot be called something supernatural. When a person follows a regime for a long time and gets up at the same time, his body sooner or later begins to do this automatically.
Most often, the internal alarm clock starts even a little earlier than it should. Researchers have found that waking up is associated with stress hormones. They begin to be released during sleep a couple of hours before a person is supposed to wake up. Most likely, the brain “prepares” for waking up in advance because the sound of the alarm clock seems unpleasant to it. That is why it carefully pushes us to wake up a little earlier than the set time.
Scientists have long known that many animals sense magnetic fields. Birds, fish, mammals, and even insects use this ability to navigate in space. It was long believed that humans lost this gift during evolution. However, recent studies have shown that humans do have an internal compass, although it does not work as well as animals.
Neurobiologists conducted an interesting experiment with 84 volunteers. The participants were placed in a Faraday cage, which blocks external electromagnetic influences. Then the scientists created an artificial magnetic field and began to slowly change its direction. To their surprise, the areas of the brain responsible for processing sensory signals responded to these changes.
A loud or unusual sound can actually wake a person up. Previously, scientists believed that we do not perceive other sounds in our sleep due to the partial “switching off” of the brain. However, recent studies have shown that this is not entirely true. It turns out that we do hear sounds and process them, but only during the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage.
The results of an interesting experiment involving 20 volunteers were published in the journal Nature Communications. During their sleep, the researchers played various musical fragments at different stages of sleep. As a result, it turned out that the brain reacts to sounds precisely in the REM phase. At the same time, it does not recognize those sounds that sounded during other stages of sleep.
Everyone knows that training your brain requires practice. But if you're learning to play the piano, you can do without it. This amazing discovery was made by Nobel laureate Santiago Ramon y Cajal, who devoted his life to studying how mental exercises affect the brain.
Back in 1904, Ramon y Cajal taught piano to two groups of students. None of them had any previous experience playing this musical instrument. The scientist made one group practice on a real piano, while the other group was simply told how to position their fingers and what sounds they should produce. At the end of the training, the scientist found that both groups had reached the same level of music-making.
Even those who consider themselves completely unbiased still evaluate a new person based on external features. While getting to know each other, the brain quickly forms a clearer picture. Research has shown that just 0.1 seconds is enough for the brain to form a fairly accurate judgment about a person.
We automatically and instantly get an idea of the sexuality, professional qualities or political views of the interlocutor. But if we reject the first impressions offered by the brain and begin to deliberately analyze the person's personality, then we risk falling under the influence of stereotypes. And this, in turn, reduces the accuracy of our assessment.
The way the eyes and brain interact has long attracted the attention of scientists. Understanding how visual information is processed could help people with severe visual impairments. Several important discoveries have been made in this area in recent years. One of them is the brain's amazing ability to predict the future.
Research has shown that because of the delay in signals from the eyes to the brain, it is forced to predict what will happen next. This ability increases with age and experience. The brain uses data from past events to predict how a situation will develop – and does this even before we are aware of what is happening. This allows us to see ahead by a fraction of a second, which can sometimes help us avoid injury or dangerous situations.
To stay physically fit, it is important to exercise regularly or at least lead an active lifestyle. However, this does not always work. Fortunately, the brain can offer an interesting alternative. Scientists from Ohio University conducted an experiment with 29 volunteers. They had a surgical bandage placed on their wrists.
Half of the participants were asked to think about training their wrists for 11 minutes a day, 5 days a week. The other half simply wore a bandage on their hand. It turned out that those who mentally trained had increased muscle volume in their hands. When both groups started doing the exercises, those who also thought about training still had better results. Is it possible to get six-pack abs with the power of thought? You'll never know unless you try.
Many have heard about the existence of a "sixth sense" in humans. Some have even experienced its action in life, feeling the approach of a person or animal from behind, or even just someone's gaze. This is expressed by a vague anxiety, sweating and a sensation of hair movement on the back of the head. Neurobiologists think that this gift was left to us by our distant ancestors who lived in the wild.
The brain does not need to look back. It uses other, more advanced methods to create a three-dimensional model of the space around us. Our hearing plays an important role in this, capturing the slightest sound vibrations. We may not perceive the sound because it is too weak, but our brain has received information about it and quickly processed it to warn us of danger.
One of the main mysteries of the brain is how it handles our memories. Scientists around the world have been studying this topic for decades, but there is still no complete clarity. For example, it remains unknown in which parts of the brain memories are stored and processed.
Particularly surprising are the so-called false memories. Sometimes we remember events that never happened, or actions that we never performed. We can convince ourselves that we did not borrow money, although this is not true. And experiments show that about 70 percent of people can be made to believe that they committed a theft or an attack with a weapon that was not actually there. Why the brain creates such illusions remains a mystery.
Modern science has established that our brain has an autopilot function. It works so well that it often copes with tasks better than the active part of the brain. Such tasks are processed by an area called the default mode network (DMN). It is busy processing subconscious information.
In one experiment, 28 volunteers were asked to play a simple card game that required minimal training. Scientists monitored brain activity using precise equipment. At first, brain activity was predictable, but later, data processing shifted from active areas to the DMN. At the same time, performance in the game increased significantly.
The default mode network helps us perform routine tasks, such as tying shoelaces or opening the door with keys. An experiment with playing cards showed that this part of the brain can cope with more complex tasks, too. This frees up the active part of the brain to deal with the really important issues.
The human brain is a real generator of mysteries, which continues to amaze scientists with its capabilities. Its ability to foresee, remember, create false memories and even train muscles with the power of thought raises a lot of questions. Which of these facts surprised you the most? Maybe you have already encountered manifestations of the unusual capabilities of your brain? Share your experience or thoughts - what other secrets, in your opinion, does our main organ hide?