The Unknown Brain

I learned some great info listening to a TED Talk this morning focused on the human brain. As the title of the talk suggests, “The Unknown Brain” includes a bunch of discussions centering around new information regarding the brain and personal anecdotes related thereto.

So far, the most interesting and relevant facts I learned are as follows:

1. 1. Out of the approx 2000 calories humans need to ingest daily, 500 of those calories go right to the brain, providing the necessary nutrients it requires to properly function. This of course means that, much like a lack of sleep, we truly are depriving our brains and partially disabling ourselves by failing to eat properly.
   2. Humans have an average of approx 86 billion neurons in their brains, 16 billion of which are located in the cerebral cortex–the most complex and advanced of the brain’s regions–which controls planning and other intricate functions. This region is what truly separates us from animals, because even though other animals can have larger brains with more neurons, none have anywhere near as many neurons in the cerebral cortex. Primates are the closest with about 9 billion.

   In fact, one of the greatest points being made on this episode was that, otherwise, humans aren’t really all that different from animals.

   It’s an interesting topic that I want to prioritize in my memory and further research, hence this post.