The Neuro Platform

Nowadays self-help books, podcasts, and even movies make dramatic claims about the human brain. Whilst these stories make for compelling entertainment, they often spread misconceptions that have little basis in neuroscience. Let’s separate fact from fiction by examining the three most persistent brain myths that media loves, but science has thoroughly debunked.

Myth #1: “We Only Use 10% of Our Brain”

I have not heard a single brain myth more than the idea that humans only tap into 10% of their brain’s capacity, leaving 90% unused and full of untapped potential. This myth has become the central premise of countless movies, for example ‘Lucy’, where Scarlett Johansson’s character gains superpowers by unlocking a higher percentage of her brain activity. These misconceptions have fuelled a multi-million dollar industry of brain-training programs and apps which promise to unlock your ‘hidden mental powers’.

The Reality: Modern neuroscience has completely demolished this myth. Brain imaging technologies like PET scans, fMRI, and EEG consistently show that there is activity across virtually all areas of the brain, throughout your daily activities (Boyd, 2008).

Even during sleep, your brain remains remarkably active, consolidating memories and performing essential maintenance functions. If 90% of your brain was truly going unused, in theory any damage to these “inactive” areas shouldn’t affect you. However, research shows that damage to almost any brain region produces noticeable deficits.

The truth is that evolution wouldn’t waste energy maintaining such a massive, metabolically expensive organ if most of it served no purpose. Your brain consumes about 20% of your body’s total energy despite representing only 2% of your body weight (Raichle and Gusnard, 2000). That’s not exactly the profile of an organ that’s 90% deadweight.

Myth #2: “You’re Either Left-Brained or Right-Brained”

Buzzfeed quizzes and certain aspects of psychology love to categorise people as either, analytical “left-brained” thinkers, or creative “right-brained” individuals. This myth suggests that logical, mathematical people primarily use their left hemisphere, whilst artistic, intuitive types rely on their right hemisphere.

The Reality: Researchers at the University of Utah have shown that this oversimplification is not entirely correct. During the course of their study they analysed brain scans of 1,011 people and found that there is no relationship that individuals used a specific side of their brain more often (University of Utah Health Sciences). Whilst it’s true that certain functions show some lateralisation – this is when certain cognitive processes are more dominant in a certain hemisphere – both hemispheres have been seen to work together in virtually all complex cognitive tasks. Language processing for example, does tend to be slightly more left-hemisphere dominant in most people, whilst attention leans more to the right.

This myth could have stemmed from Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry’s split-brain research in the 1960s. He studied patients who had undergone corpus callosotomy, which is a surgical procedure that cuts the connection between the two brain hemispheres to treat severe epilepsy, showing how they can work independently. His research provided valuable insights into hemispheric specialisation but did not support this myth that you are either left or right brained.

Research using brain imaging techniques has shown that creativity, problem-solving, and analytical thinking all require networks that span both hemispheres. When you’re being “creative”, you’re not just using your right brain, you’re using your whole brain in coordinated, complex ways.

Myth #3: “Brain size affects intelligence”

From Victorian-era skull measurements to modern assumptions about “big heads”, the idea that brain size directly determines intelligence is also a common myth, suggesting that people with larger brains are inherently smarter.

The Reality: While there is a some correlation between brain size and intelligence, the relationship is far more complex than most people assume. In healthy volunteers, total brain volume weakly correlates with intelligence however, researchers have stated that ‘it is not warranted to interpret brain size as a measure of human intelligence differences’ (Pietschnig et al., 2015).

More importantly, the quality of brain connections and efficiency of neural networks appear to matter far more than size. Einstein’s brain was actually famously known for being smaller than average, but showed unusual patterns of connectivity, and a 15% increase in average size, in areas associated with mathematical and spatial reasoning (Balter, 2009). Some of the most intelligent people in history have had unremarkable brain sizes, whilst some individuals with larger brains show no exceptional cognitive abilities.

Modern neuroscience has revealed that intelligence is better predicted by:

• The efficiency of white matter tracts that connect brain regions
• The thickness and folding patterns of the cerebral cortex
• The speed of neural processing
• The strength of synaptic connections between different brain networks

The brain size myth is often misused to make unfounded claims about intelligence differences between groups of people. These applications ignore any individual variation as well as the complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and cultural factors that influence both brain development and intelligence.

The brain doesn’t need any false embellishment, it’s already the most complex and remarkable structure in the human body. Understanding how it actually works, rather than how we imagine it works, opens up genuine possibilities for learning that are grounded in research and science rather than fiction.

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References:

1. Balter, M. (2009). Closer Look at Einstein’s Brain. http://www.science.org. Available at: https://www.science.org/content/article/closer-look-einsteins-brain.
2. Boyd, R. (2008). Do People Only Use 10 Percent of Their Brains? Scientific American. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-people-only-use-10-percent-of-their-brains/.
3. Pietschnig, J., Penke, L., Wicherts, J.M., Zeiler, M. and Voracek, M. (2015). Meta-analysis of associations between human brain volume and intelligence differences: How strong are they and what do they mean? Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 57, pp.411–432. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.017.
4. Raichle, M.E. and Gusnard, D.A. (2002). Appraising the brain’s energy budget. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(16), pp.10237–10239. doi:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.172399499.
5. Sasse, A. (1951). Einstein’s 72nd Birthday. United Press Conference.
6. University of Utah Health Sciences (2013). Researchers debunk myth of ‘right-brained’ and ‘left-brained’ personality traits. ScienceDaily. Available at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130814190513.htm.