Do I really only use 10 percent of my brain?

Philip Copitch, Ph.D. Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

Dear Dr. Phil,

There is a new movie that says I am only using 10% of my brain. Is this true? If so, did Albert Einstein really use more than 10% of his? My teacher said Einstein used lots more.

Thanks, Bob from Newark, NJ

Dear Bob from Newark, NJ,

This is a question that I am asked often. I say that with amazement, because the idea that nature is forcing us to carry around the excess weight of 90% of our brain that we never use, seems unbelievable to me. However this myth has prevailed for years.

You use all 100 percent of your brain.

In the movie, Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freemen proclaims that people only use 10 percent of their brain. Freeman is a great actor but not a neuroscientist, but due to his stage presence and authoritative voice, I will be asked about the “10 percent of your brain myth” all summer.

You use all of your brain throughout the day, everyday. Even when you appear not to be doing anything, the electrons in your brain are constantly firing at different rates.

If you are not using your pinky finger on your left hand, the corresponding brain tissue that controls that finger is ready to go. It may not be firing right this instance, but it is on standby if you need it. 

How did the myth start?

In a book that I highly recommend, How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie, the writer of the preface, Lowell Thomas, a trusted journalist, misquoted psychologist William James. Dr. James said that people often use only 10 percent of their brain’s latent (not yet developed) potential. This became interpreted to mean 10 percent of their brain -- period. I do not know for sure, but this may be how my headache began.

I once talked to a self professed psychic who was convinced that her gift came from her ability to use more than 10 percent of her brain. When I told her she used all of her brain, she was modest and told me that she hoped to someday, after she practiced and expanded her psychic skills.

The 10 percent of the brain myth has been used a lot in Science Fiction. And, other than bothering my sensibilities, it probably doesn’t matter much. But sometimes myths have real consequences. 

Teachers and the 10 percent myth

I do have a concern about medical myths when they are being passed on by professionals. In a study out of England and the Netherlands, “researchers surveyed 242 primary and secondary school teachers who were interested in the neuroscience of learning.” What they found surprised me. The report states, “Results showed that on average, teachers believed 49% of the neuromyths, particularly myths related to commercialized educational programs.”

So I will “happily” spend my summer telling people about the fallacy of the 10 percent of the brain myth. If you can help me spread the word, thanks. I doubt we can kill this myth, but maybe we can lower its viral spread by say, 10 percent.

Let me end today with my favorite quote from William James, the man who is often called the father of American psychology, “Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.”

Let me know what you think. Please comment below.

3D image of the most famous brain in neuroscience

Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

Author of Change: How to bring real change to your life: The psychology and secrets of highly effective people

The most famous brain in neuroscience belongs to Patient H.M. Don’t worry if you have never heard of Patient H.M., his real name was a medical secret until his death in 2008.

Patient H.M. is famous because of how much his medical condition helped neurologists learn about the inner workings of the human brain. Before Patient H.M., scientists believed that memory was stored throughout the brain. By studying Patient H.M., scientists got their first insight into the evidence that memory was controlled by a small part of the brain called the hippocampi and its attached tissue

Patient H.M.

Patient H.M. was Henry Molaison. All of us owe Mr. Molaison a debt of gratitude. As a child, Mr. Molaison suffered from major epileptic seizures. When epileptic seizures occur lots of neurons in the brain fire all at the same time in an abnormal way. Often seizures occur without warning. They can be mild, with loss of awareness; to severe, with uncontrolled body spasms and loss of consciousness.

Patients with recurring epileptic seizures are often prescribed anti-seizure medication. Mr. Molaison was not helped by this medication. To relieve the severe seizures, Mr. Molaison’s doctor removed the part of Mr. Molaison's brain that was causing the devastating seizures.

Following the surgery, Mr. Molaison’s seizures became manageable, but he no longer possessed short term memory. As the moments of his day went by, Mr. Molaison instantly forgot what he just did. Other parts of his memory were intact, but not his short term memory.

Mr. Molaison allowed himself to be studied by neurologists throughout his life, and after his death he donated his brain for further study. 

3D brain

Mr. Molaison's brain has been studied by many neurologists. In order to provide access to more scientists who wish to study Mr. Molaison’s brain, it has been made into a 3D virtual model.

This 41 second video shows the painstaking slicing of the frozen brain that was done to form the layered images of Mr. Molaison’s brain. This video is not for the squeamish. 

For more information about this fascinating case study, read the article printed in New Scientist.

Is our brain controlled by product brands?

By Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

Product branding is everywhere. As we go through our daily lives we couldn't get away from advertisements, even if we wanted to. Billboards, store signs, and logos on shirts, are all around us. Large companies like Coca-Cola or McDonald's spend millions to place their brand logos all aver the world. The companies know the truth about the old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind," so they work hard to stay clearly in your sight.

Scientists from Charité University Medicine and Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany have looked into how powerfully this branding influences the human brain.

Do brands control us? A new study says yes!

If you got together with a few friends to taste test your favorite cola, would you be able taste the difference between brands?

Researchers found that the taste testers they studied liked the cola labeled "coke" or "pepsi" better than the cola labeled with generic soda names. In addition, the subjects' brains were tested using fMRI scanning technology. The tasters brains indicated a preference for the brand colas over the generic ones.

But...

Each of the taste testers got the same cola, a mixture of the 4 types. 

The visual cues influenced how the person perceived the taste, and even the pleasurability, in the brain's pleasure center, .

The researchers concluded, "The results show the strong effects of brand cues on self-reported pleasantness, as well as on neural responses signalling reward in the brain."

Is it fair for us to say that the branded companies are training our brains to like them best? It does seem that way.

Read the whole study: PLOS ONE: Does Taste Matter? How Anticipation of Cola Brands Influences Gustatory Processing in the Brain

Thanks for reading my blog, your comments are welcomed and encouraged. Thanks!

Books on the brain: brain and behavior   brain and learning   brain and magic

Can a computer read your dreams?

By Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

People regularly ask me about their dreams and what they mean. Our fascination about dreams seems to have been a part of the human condition since the beginning of time.

With all the curiosity concerning dreams (and sleep in general), science seems to have a hard time understanding what dreams are and why we even have them.

This week in the journal Science, researchers from Japan explain their novel approach to looking into our dreams.

Lead author, Yukiyasu Kamitani of Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, and his colleagues, "taught" a computer to identify the brain activity of subjects while they were looking at specific objects; such as furniture, a street, or a girl. With this identification information they compared similar brain activity during sleep. The categories are course (rough estimates) at this time, for example "girl" versus "Mary."

The researchers gathered electronic brain activity of three male subjects while they slept. They also woke the subjects up during REM sleep (rapid eye movements often associated with dreaming) and asked them specifically what they were dreaming about.

Next, the researchers developed the course categories of items in their dreams.

Again the test subjects' brains were monitored, this time while they looked at objects from the developed categories.

The researchers used computer algorithms (set of rules to be followed in calculations) to compare the wake and sleeping brain activity with category items. The computer scored about 70% accuracy.

This early research points towards the conclusion that the brain in dream state is processing real information. Other researchers have shown that dreams are influential in storing long term memories and in the understanding of complexities of emotional thought.

Can a computer read your dreams? The simple answer is: not yet... but I do wonder how long it will take.

Recommended reading on the science of sleep and dreams:

 
 Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep

An engrossing examination of the science behind the little-known world of sleep.

Like many of us, journalist David K. Randall never gave sleep much thought. That is, until he began sleepwalking. One midnight crash into a hallway wall sent him on an investigation into the strange science of sleep.

In Dreamland, Randall explores the research that is investigating those dark hours that make up nearly a third of our lives. Taking readers from military battlefields to children’s bedrooms, Dreamland shows that sleep isn't as simple as it seems. Why did the results of one sleep study change the bookmakers’ odds for certain Monday Night Football games? Do women sleep differently than men? And if you happen to kill someone while you are sleepwalking, does that count as murder?

The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Sleep Disorders (Cleveland Clinic Guides)

From the nation’s top-ranked clinic for neurology, the most important health information and advice on how to avoid and cope with or overcome sleep disorders

Psychologist “honored” on toilet paper

Every introduction to psychology text of the last 50 years explains the groundbreaking work of John Ridley Stroop who, for his doctoral dissertation in 1933, described the phenomena of cognitive interference. First published in 1935, Stoop showed that the human brain has a tendency to be “tricked” and that this tendency is measurable.

In Stroop’s experiment, subjects were shown words that were printed in color. When the ink color did not match the word, the subject tended to read the word incorrectly.

For example, if you are asked to name the ink color of the following words:

Red

Blue

Your confusion when answering the question of color is noticeable while your brain sorts out the printed word “red” from the color “green.”

Cognitive tests based on Stroop’s work are still used today. The amount of time it takes to answer the question of ink color versus written printed word can be used as a measure of mental fitness. As our society ages, this non invasive mental evaluation is being used increasingly as part of mental status exams.

On the assumption that mental exercises can help stave off mental aliments, game manufacturers have incorporated Stroop’s research in to modern electronic games. Nintendo sells "Brain Age" with the slogan "Train your brain in minutes a day!" It features a version a Stroop test.
            

A novelty company in England has added the Stroop test to toilet paper called, Mind Trainer Toilet Paper. Their slogan is “Train your brain as you drain."