What is intelligence? The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.
Brain and of course many other parts of the living beings – are intelligent. Even the cells in our blood are intelligent because they have a system to know where the infection is and can reach there asap.
The brain and the nervous system, of course, have many features of intelligent processes. All throughout its structure we find intelligent methods and programs for data processing.
Brain is the organ responsible for our identity. We are known by the way we behave, way we emote, the work we do, the ideas we express. Our face is known because we are known. And the different aspects of our persona are because of the way our unique brain functions and makes us different from other people.
This is our very own smart device. Smartphones were invented in the past decades. But we have already been born with this natural smart device: our brain. Our brain is a powerful computer, doing multiple processes at the same time. It stores data: our memory, helps us learn new things, it is the seat of thought and it makes us react and respond to our surroundings. It is the only intelligence we are aware of. It is so complex that we cannot replicate its systems yet.
Brain size: big brain doesn’t mean more intelligence. Infact Macrocephaly: a big head: is a sign of some brain disease in children. The average weight of an adult brain is 1400 g. When the great scientist, Albert Einstein died, they performed an autopsy on him. He died on April 18 1955, at the age of 76. At the time of his death the pathologist performing the autopsy removed his brain for research. The scientist doing the autopsy found that the genius’ brain weighed 1230 g at the time of death. The story of Einstein’s brain is very fascinating and we will address that in another session. But the point is that weight and size do not decide the intelligence of the person.
Communication system: the brain cells : the neurons, communicate with each other using electrical and chemical systems. The electrical impulses travel at fast speed along the entire nervous system. They travel along the length of the nerve fibers. And the chemicals that transmit the signals across gap junctions or synapses are called neurotransmitters. Around 500 neurotransmitters have been identified. So electro-chemical messenger system.
Active organ: the brain is working throughout the 24 hours. When we are awake different parts of our brain are working. For eg. Now that I am talking, my speech area is working more than yours, as you are listening and your listening and understanding area is working more than others. Even when we sleep, the brain is working. All the housekeeping function of the brain happens during sleep. Memory is consolidated: that means ‘saved in the hard drive’ during sleep. So a good refreshing and sufficient sleep is a must.
At any given time our brain is working around 20-30 % of its entire capacity because that much is just enough for our day to day life. It would be very difficult to function if all of our brain parts were to work simultaneously.
Though it weighs 2% of our body weight it draws 20% blood supply. That means it takes 10 times more blood than the other organs. That gives us the idea of how much the brain works.
It also means that 20% of what you consume as food, drinks, smoke, drugs all goes to the brain. And the brain is your identity. So take care of what you consume.
The blood supply to the brain is very unique. It is need based. A beautiful design of the ‘Circle of Willis’ lies at the base of the brain, which allows need based supply. We will cover this separately because it’s a beautiful concept.
A human brain generates 12000 to 50000 thoughts per day. That’s a lot of thinking work. It differs for everyone and depends on how deep a thinker you are. Thinking takes up energy.
When learning, the brain cells form new connections and this takes up energy.
The energy supply to the brain is in the form of Oxygen and Glucose which are supplied by the blood. Especially when it has to do heavy thinking and learning work. So be sure to have a good meal when you are going to attend a lecture or starting your studies. Laddoos and chikkis are excellent with short acting and long acting sources of glucose. Low and high glucose can both damage the brain and prevent it from functioning well. Lack of oxygen to the brain for 5-10m minutes, low sugars for prolonged time can both result in permanent brain damage.
Cooking was the revolution that enabled human brains to become efficient organs, giving us time for a wider variety of tasks besides just eating.
Soft organ:The human brain is made up of around 86 billion neurons and 10 times that number of glial cells. Thats the largest number of neurons in the brain as compared to other species. And it takes 20% blood supply. So the brain is a very soft organ, with a lot of blood circulating through it – it is as soft as paneer or tofu. It needs protection. So nature designed the skull to protect the brain and the vertebral column to protect the spinal cord. But these were not designed for high velocities like the bikes we have these days. So we need additional protection while driving vehicles. So wearing helmets and following traffic rules is a part of taking care of your brain and your identity.
Work distribution in the brain: studying neurology is like studying sociology, philosophy, spirituality and a lot more. Though the brain is one organ, there is efficient work distribution in it. It follows a model of management which is a mixture of hierarchy and heterarchy. There is a CEO and there are managers and there are workers. The front part of the brain is the frontal lobe. The newest part of this lobe is the prefrontal cortex and is the part responsible for our personality features. The left side handles language and the right side handles creativity in most of us. The frontal lobe is for execution and thus has control on thought and action. The motor strip controls movement directly and that too has distribution of work as to which neurons will control the hand and which the leg etc.
That’s it for today! A lot more to share. See you again in the next blog. Stay tuned.
Author: Dr. Poornima Gauri, Neurologist by profession, passionate about brain and mind health, believer in positive personal change, MD of NICHE Advocacy Foundation and Proprietor, Poornima Gauri Neuro Center.