Reels tagged #brain
Your brain runs on about 20 watts
Some 86 billion neurons fire constantly, yet the whole brain uses roughly the power of a dim light bulb — while consuming a fifth of your energy.
Your brain burns a fifth of your energy
It is about 2% of your body weight but consumes roughly 20% of your calories and oxygen — running on around 20 watts, less than a dim light bulb.
The brain cannot feel pain
Brain tissue has no pain receptors. That is why surgeons can operate on an awake patient, asking them to talk or play guitar to make sure nothing vital is cut.
You carry about 86 billion neurons
Each one can connect to thousands of others, making roughly 100 trillion synapses — a wiring diagram no machine has yet come close to matching.
Your brain hears your name in a noisy room
The cocktail party effect: even while ignoring a crowd of voices, your attention system keeps scanning them and snaps to your own name. You were never really tuning it all out.
A fake pill can produce real relief
In the placebo effect, expectation alone triggers measurable changes — the brain releases its own painkillers. It works even in some trials where patients are told the pill is inactive.
Every time you recall a memory you rewrite it
Memories are not recordings. Recalling one makes it temporarily unstable, and it is re-stored with whatever mood and context you are in now. Your most-told story is your least accurate one.