Your Brain Is Incredible! Discover 15 Surprising Facts

Small but Mighty

Your brain weighs about 2.8 pounds, but it uses 20% of all the oxygen in your body.

Split in Two

The brain has two halves, called hemispheres, joined by a bridge called the corpus callosum. Its surface is full of folds and grooves, giving it a large surface area about the size of a newspaper page.

Each Part Has a Job

The cerebrum, the brain’s biggest part, is divided into lobes. The frontal lobe helps with planning, speaking, moving, emotions, and solving problems. The temporal lobe handles hearing and memory. The occipital lobe deals with vision. The parietal lobe senses touch, pressure, temperature, and pain.

The Brain’s Big Role

The cerebrum makes up about 85% of your brain. It controls memory, thinking, movement, and how we sense the world.

Tiny but Important

The hypothalamus is a small part of the brain that weighs just 0.14 ounces. But it plays a big role! It controls things like emotions, hunger, thirst, body temperature, sleep, and your body’s chemical balance.

Well-Protected

Your brain is protected not just by your skull, but also by three layers of membranes and a special fluid called cerebrospinal fluid that cushions it.

Very Delicate

Even with all this protection, the brain is very soft and needs to be shielded from bumps and injuries.

What Is a Concussion?

A concussion happens when your brain bumps against the inside of your skull, often from a fall or hit.

Oxygen Matters

Just 7 seconds without oxygen can make you faint. That’s the body’s way of getting more blood and oxygen to the brain.

Timing Is Critical

If the brain doesn’t get oxygen for 4 minutes, it can cause permanent damage. That’s why CPR is so important before emergency help arrives.

How Messages Travel

Your brain is full of special cells called neurons. They send and receive messages. Each neuron can connect with hundreds of thousands of others at places called synapses. We have around 200 billion neurons. (Fun fact: an octopus has even more about 300 billion!)

Your Brain Is Always Thinking

Every day, your brain has around 70,000 thoughts.

Memory Loss and Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease is a serious illness that slowly damages and kills brain cells.

Sleep Time Is Brain Time

Your brain is actually more active when you’re asleep than when you’re awake!

A Baby’s Brain Grows Fast

A newborn’s brain weighs about 12 to 14 ounces, but it already has all the neurons an adult brain does. By the end of the first year, it triples in size.