Common myths about the brain debunked

CBS News ^ | November 2, 2015 | Ashley Welch

[Kaslin]

The brain is central to our health and sense of self, but when it comes to how it works, there is still much to be understood. Maybe you've heard that doing crossword puzzles can improve memory, that playing classical music makes babies smarter, or that drinking alcohol kills brain cells -- but are these and other common claims about the brain really true?

An article in this month's issue of Popular Science seeks to separate brain facts from myths.

One of the first questions that come to mind regarding the brain is how much of it we actually use. Science fiction movies and novels often tell us we use only 10 percent of our brain, but it turns out that notion is false -- and actually not even plausible.

"If you only used 10 percent of your brain, you'd basically be brain dead," Michael Nuñez, Popular Science's technology editor, told "CBS This Morning." "Thanks to modern brain scanning technology, we actually know that we're using all of our brain at all different moments and different parts are being activated depending on the activity."

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

In before the obligatory “Cheers” post about how drinking beer kills the slow brain cells and makes you smarter.

[dp0622]

After sustaining a head injury 10 years ago, I can state that the 2 year recovery period i wrong.

Supposedly, no healing can occur after that.

I’ve had several go away and some get worse. But the tradeoff has been in my favor so far.

I donate to the vets because 300k have brain injuries and they need to be helped as quickly as possible, even if it is 10 or 20 years.

I’m not naive about how hard it is to treat a damaged brain.

Trust me, I know. But technology is leaping, not crawling, so fingers crossed for our vets.

[Lake Living]

“You’ve also probably heard that there are biological gender differences when it comes to the brain — male brains are supposedly better suited for math and science, while female brains are more suited for empathy. But that’s a misconception that’s important to correct, Nuñez said.”

Consider the source and who is publishing. God created them male and female - end of discussion whether brains are diff or same.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

“Popular Science’s technology editor, told “CBS This Morning.” “Thanks to modern brain scanning technology, we actually know that we’re using all of our brain at all different moments and different parts are being activated depending on the activity.””

Amazingly enough when they did a scan of a Democrats brain the most active part was the same part that controls bowel movements.

[Another Post-American]

Author Ian Taylor traced the “You only use 10% of your brain” myth back over a century, IIRC. Apparently it’s origin was with a “self-help” guru’s writings, exhorting people that if they just thought positively and thought harder they could do amazing things, accomplish their goals and so on. In other words, it had absolutely no basis in observational science as such.

[JRandomFreeper]

May be of interest.

/johnny

[Another Post-American]

I highly recommend the book His Brain, Her Brain - I forget the authors (a married couple, the man having a Ph.D. in neuroscience). It clearly showings there are huge differences in brain structure between men and women, explaining it all from a biblical perspective. So if they are trying to minimize those facts they are doing a disservice to readers.

For one thing, there is a strong cable between the two halves of the brain in women that enables them to multi-task very well. By contrast with men it’s like a single hair-like thread. This causes men to be more tunnel-visioned and obsessive, which has its own advantages. Men and women really are complementary.

Think about it. When is the last time you say an article that read something like “Woman labors for 20 years in kitchen, invents a better can opener”? You never hear of things like that. But half the men in America have had projects going on as long in their garages and workshops. Most are trivial, or pointless, or absurd. But every so often one of them changes the world.

They beat their head against the wall to solve a problem until they find the solution. Whereas their more practical wives will look at the problem and just find the door or other route around it. ;-)

[dp0622]

Good to see ya :)

[AndyTheBear]

The missed the myth about the brain being able to explain subjective experience:

There is now overwhelming biological and behavioral evidence that the brain contains no stable, high-resolution, full field representation of a visual scene, even though that is what we subjectively experience (Martinez-Conde et al. 2008). The structure of the primate visual system has been mapped in detail (Kaas and Collins 2003) and there is no area that could encode this detailed information.

The Neural Binding Problem

[Newtoidaho]

I can’t brain today, I haz the dumb.

[JRandomFreeper]

I should have read the replies before replying, but that's like reading the article. Where is the fun in that? LOL

You are correct. We don't even know what we don't know when it comes to treating the brain. Lots of work to go. I'm glad for what the VA was able to do for me.

/johnny

[dp0622]

you’re right on all counts!

Most of these soldiers have negative MRIs, but those are good for bleeding, cases like yours, and a few other things.

It can’t detect state I and II from what I understand.

We need a machine or test that can see at the microscopic level, and it’s not like you can ask for a biopsy just in case early on.

They still have no idea what effect the tiny spec they are taking will have.

The next generation will have treatment we didn’t even dream of. I’m glad for that.

not so thrilled for the ones now!!!

[Talisker]

“You’ve also probably heard that there are biological gender differences when it comes to the brain — male brains are supposedly better suited for math and science, while female brains are more suited for empathy. But that’s a misconception that’s important to correct, Nuez said.”

That's for sure. Anyone who still thinks women are programmed for empathy has been living in a cave for the last 40 years.

[KarlInOhio]

"If you only used 10 percent of your brain, you'd basically be brain dead,"

From the Centers for Democrat Control, here is a brain scan of a typical Democrat voter.

[FourPeas]

"Both male and female brains have the exact same cognitive potential and although there are very small anatomical differences, for the most part, the perceived differences between males and females and science and math are because of cultural expectations," he said.

Yeah, couldn't be because of those very small anatomical differences. Nah. Anatomical differences don't mean they might function differently. That's just hype. It's culture. That's the ticket.

[achilles2000]

There is a well established body of psychometric research that directly contradicts the claim that male and female brains in general have no cognitive differences. The authorette is just repeating feminist dogma. The left loves to obscure the truth by declaring the truth to be a “myth”, but what else would one expect from brain damaged postmodernists,

[driftless2]

The difference in brain function between the sexes has been proven overwhelmingly by real life. The stupid comment by the researcher means a number of their conclusions have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Simply by the law of averages if the sexes were equal in math and science ability, we'd be seeing numerous females doing as well as males in the upper echelons of math and science achievement. We don't see that. There have been programs for the the last 30-40 years encouraging females to get into science and math like males. We still see huge disparities.

It's true...the intelligence between the sexes is about the same. But there are far more male math and science geniuses than there are females. Liberals, like the "experts" in this study are unwilling to face the truth.

[grey_whiskers]

Here's a better one.

[Inyo-Mono]

Interesting, and makes sense.