Brain Awareness Week: 4 Mind-Blowing Brain Facts
This year for Brain Awareness Week, we are thrilled to share four fascinating insights about our favorite organ: the brain. As the central processing unit of human life, the brain is responsible for a vast array of functions that impact us every day. Here are some eye-opening facts that shed light on the incredible capabilities of this hub of cognition and learning:
The Human Brain Can Process a Nearly Infinite Amount of New Information
The human brain boasts an astonishing 86 billion neurons. Each one of these is capable of forming connections during learning and processing, resulting in over 100 trillion possible connections. Even more astonishing, a tiny piece of brain tissue the size of a grain of sand may contain up to 100,000 neurons and potentially 1 billion synapses or connections. This vast capacity for learning and adaptation is one of the hallmarks of the human brain.
Your Brain Is Faster than a Car!
The speed at which electrical impulses travel between neurons can reach up to 268 miles per hour! This incredible speed allows us to learn, think, and function efficiently in our fast-paced world. However, if you or your child feel that learning or processing information takes longer than usual, it could be a sign of slow processing speed, which can impact daily activities and learning. To learn more about slow processing and its effects, click here.
Almost Half of a Child’s Energy Goes to Brain Development
During peak developmental years, such as preschool to early school age, children’s physical growth slows down as a significant portion of their energy goes towards cognitive growth and brain development. As individuals grow older and experience growth spurts, puberty, and adulthood, more energy redirects from brain development back to the body.
Neuroplasticity Allows for Continuous Learning and Growth
Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new neural connections, enables memory, processing, and thinking to become more efficient. Even as adults, our brains are capable of creating new neurons and establishing new connections. This phenomenon explains why individuals with impairments in one sense often have heightened abilities in other senses. For instance, blind individuals may have sharper hearing and smell due to the rewiring of brain areas typically associated with vision to process sound information.
Harnessing Your Brain’s Power to Change Through Brain Training
At LearningRx, we understand the potential of neuroplasticity and its role in enhancing focus, learning, reading, memory, and processing skills. Through our brain training programs, we help individuals of all ages improve their cognitive abilities by literally rewiring their brains to operate more efficiently. Research using functional MRI (fMRI) scans has shown new connectivity after brain training. These changes correlated with changes on cognitive tests showing more efficient learning for many individuals, including those with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), memory loss, and other cognitive challenges.*
To learn more about how brain training can benefit you or your loved ones, click here.
*Results based on past clients. Outcomes may vary.
