The Other 90% of Our Brains…

By Shamini Bundell

100% of the brain. Keep telling yourself this. She uses 100%.

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You might know that humans only actually use, or at least are only aware of what goes on in, 10% of our brains. What you might not know is what the other 90% is for. Or, most importantly, which 10% it is that we use.

Scientists are able to ‘see’ which parts of our brains are being used with clever scanning devices such as magnetic resonance imagers. They simply instruct the patient to think using only their conscious mind and then record which bits light up. Using this method they have found that only 10% of the brain is actually used.

But anyone who’s ever seen a brain scan can see that the coloured bits occur all over, not just in a small corner. Well, that’s because that 10% is not together but divided up into small clumps of neurons across the brain. This means that people getting shot in the head can only avoid the important parts with a huge amount of luck or skill (please do not try experimenting with this at home).

It used to be thought that the other 90% of matter was simply some form of heat regulating device, like a sort of radiator. It is now believed that these regions may in fact be responsible for ‘supernatural’ abilities such as being psychic, having premonitions, the sixth sense and being abducted by aliens.

What a load of twaddle. Please don’t believe any of the above. You use all your brain some of the time. Although a lot of people use only a small part of it most of the time.

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