5 Amazing Facts About the Brain You Probably Don’t Know
Lindsay Knake
| 3 min read
Lindsay Knake is a brand journalist for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
The human brain is a remarkably complex organ.
It is the central organ of the central nervous system, regulating our heartbeat and breathing. The brain alerts us to danger, stores our memories, and allows us to solve complicated problems. While there are still plenty of things we don’t understand about the brain, here are five amazing facts you probably didn’t know:
Hydration is key for cognitive function.
While approximately 60% of the adult human body is made of water, up to 75% of your brain is made of water. Your brain needs water to make hormones and neurotransmitters.
Given how important water is for your brain, even 1-2% can impair cognitive function. Mild dehydration can result in increased reaction time, poor concentration, anxiety, irritability, and short-term memory problems, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Your brain adapts constantly.
Your brain has the ability to change structurally throughout your life. This process is called neuroplasticity. When you learn something new, whether a new task at work or a new neighbor, your brain forms synaptic connections between the billions of neurons in your brain. While neuroplasticity is stronger for younger people, those of any age can continue to develop new skills and neural pathways.
This also allows the brain to adapt after an injury such as a stroke, according to the Cleveland Clinic. A brain that has suffered a traumatic injury will find new connections around the damaged areas.
You can learn to make your brain stronger by making small adjustments to daily tasks, such as using your non-dominant hand more often, cooking a new dish, or taking a new route to the grocery store or office.
Meditation changes the brain.
You likely know that meditation is good for you. Why is that? Meditation is another way to change the brain to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
A study showed eight weeks of meditation decreased the volume of the amygdala, the part of the brain that alerts us to danger. The same study found meditation increased the gray matter concentration in the hippocampus, which is the part of your brain responsible for emotion regulation and memory. These changes can aid in your memory and ability to manage stress and intense emotions.
Scent is tied to memory.
You may notice a particular scent takes you back to a particular memory, such as the smell of pine trees on a warm summer day reminds you of a camping trip when you were a kid. That is because your brain ties scent to memory.
When you smell something, your olfactory system sends that information to your brain’s limbic system, according to Harvard University. The limbic system includes the amygdala and the hippocampus.
Because taste is tied to scent, eating a specific food like a piece of birthday cake can have the same impact on your memory.
We have more than five senses.
Something we learn as children is that we have five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. That, however, is incomplete. Humans have other senses and ways we perceive the world and ourselves. Our brains help regulate and process the information we take in.
Here are a few other senses humans have:
- Equilibrioception: the perception of balance and spatial orientation
- Proprioception: the sense of where our body in space.
- Interoception: internal senses that tell us what is going on inside of our body, such as when we are hungry or thirsty.
- Thermoception: the ability to sense temperature.
Image: Getty Images
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