The human brain is a monster of a computer. It outclasses the best of the best of human built computers as far as memory, capacity and speed is concerned. Unfortunately, it is also the "computer" that is the most underutilized and sometimes misused!
The average weight of the human brain grows phenomenal between birth and adulthood. It can reach a final weight of about 1.4kg for men and 1.3 kg for women.
There is no correlation between brain size and intelligence. The brain of a man is usually slightly larger than that of a woman's. Interesting enough, in both sexes the brain makes up a similar proportion of the total body weight.
The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, each a mirror image of the other. The right hemisphere controls the muscles of and receives information from the left half of the body; the left hemisphere monitors and controls the right half of the body.
In right-handed people the left side of the brain is concerned with such skills as reading, writing and talking. The right hemisphere deals with artistic activity and the mechanisms of the imagination. In left-handed people the functions of the two hemispheres may be reversed.
Pain from any injury or illness is always perceived by the brain. However, the brain itself is immune against pain as it contains none of the specialised receptor cells that sense pain in other parts of the body.
Go out and maximize the utilization of the best computer there will ever be!
As the top 5 post above indicates, 40% of the facts about the brain are about the split between left and right hemispheres. The dominance of one hemisphere over another plays an integral role in how we perceive the world. I just read James Olson's new book that explores how to integrate the contrasting views of each hemisphere to make us better-functioning individuals and to build a more harmonious world. This is very interesting research for anyone interested in brain structure and it's impact on us as individuals and as a society http://www.thewholebrainpath.com/
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