10 Myths About the Human Brain That Scientists Debunked

Nowadays, many people are guided by information based on popular beliefs and not on truths proven by science. This happens, for example, with some functions of the human brain. Although it still hides many mysteries, and science still does not fully understand it, researchers have already managed to show many truths and thus debunk some myths that are directly related to the functioning of the brain and, therefore, to the understanding of our own species.

That is precisely why the awesome.club created a list of some of the strongest myths about the human brain that have been debunked by scientists.

In the past, people thought that humans were only capable of using 10% of our brain mass. This happened because of a misinterpretation of a study carried out at the beginning of the 20th century, in which it was discovered that at any moment only 10% of the brain’s neurons are active at the same time.

According to neurologist John Henley, it has been discovered that we continuously use various areas of our brain. According to him, activities ranging from serving a cup of coffee to making important decisions require the activation of many neurons at the same time, since they require different skills.

Some people think that the size of our organs influence their performance. In the case of the brain, although there is a record of difference in intellectual abilities in brains of different sizes, the results vary by only 2%.

According to a study carried out by Gideon Nave, this difference is not so significant, which ended the myth that people with a big head are more intelligent than the rest.

In the early 1990s, a study was carried out with about 30 students. They listened to a song by Mozart and felt improvements in their concentration skills for a few minutes, thus creating the myth of the Mozart Effect, which claims that listening to the composer’s music can help develop intelligence in babies and children.

In fact, it is a 1993 study in which young students had to perform a specific activity. Those who listened to Mozart before performing it performed better, but only for a few minutes and did not get any smarter. In 2003, a study ensured that children with musical training did not have a superior performance in psychomotricity and numerical discrimination compared to those who received visual training.

The fact that most people have one hand more dexterous than the other has forged the idea that only one side of our brain is active. Furthermore, the discovery that the left side is in charge of logic and language while the right side is in charge of creativity and intuition served to support the idea that our brain works asymmetrically.

In reality, there is no scientific evidence to support the existence of this polarity, because a left-handed person can develop great creative abilities and a right-handed person can have a lot of logical ability. Having a dominant hand is related to genetics, just like the color of our hair, and not to our brain’s more developed abilities.

People tend to think that as we age, our cognitive abilities deteriorate, like many organs in our body. In reality, people do not reach their maximum cognitive capacity at the same age. A 2015 study revealed that some people reach this point in their 30s and others only in their 40s.

However, although we think that after a certain age things start to get worse, another study excludes this belief, since although short-term memory and the speed to process information decrease, there is an improvement in linguistic, mechanical and in long-term memory. According to the study, they get stronger with age.

While there are dozens of traits that make women different from men, intelligence is not one of them. At the University of Arizona, a study was carried out to assess students’ self-perception in relation to their abilities.

Even though a significant difference between the intelligence of men and women has not been proven, their school qualifications showed the opposite. It was possible to verify that men were more confident about their abilities, while women had doubts about their intelligence, which demonstrates that it is not gender, but self-perception that affects our performance.

Another common myth about the human mind is that intelligence increases if we perform exercises for the mind, such as memory games and crossword puzzles, in addition to other dynamics that have proven to be efficient in preventing mental illness and neuronal deterioration. However, they do not increase intelligence.

A study carried out using computers with more than 11 thousand people who received weekly mental training exercises showed that although certain skills increased in these people compared to those who did not receive the training, cognitive ability did not show significant differences.

Some people often claim that the first child in a family is the most intelligent, and this has made people really believe in the myth of the eldest son. However, a 2007 study wanted to dig deeper into the matter to find out if this was actually true or not.

While there are differences regarding the intellect of siblings, they are unrelated to birth order; they are influenced by psychological factors in people’s relationships with their parents before and after birth.

The pressure we experience at school, university or at work can cause a lot of stress, and sometimes it is precisely in these moments that we find more strength to continue working, as if the pressure did not affect us. That can happen, but it doesn’t mean the job is any easier.

In reality, what stresses us out is putting ourselves in a state of alert that sometimes gets the best of us. However, in the long run, working under pressure can do serious damage to our brain, fraying some connections. That’s what this study, conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, argues for.

Although a high level of cholesterol in the blood increases the probability of a person suffering a cerebral infarction, thinking that it is completely harmful to our brain is a myth. On the other hand, it is proven that cholesterol is essential for the functioning of the brain, but eliminating the excess is not a bad idea.

According to scientists at Harvard University, cholesterol is vital for the brain because it helps keep its functions active. But our body is capable of producing cholesterol: the liver and the brain are capable of generating this substance at normal levels. That is, we do not need external sources.

Did you know and believe in any of these myths? Do you know any others that science has already managed to deny? Share your opinion in the comments.