Brain Awareness Week: 9 Mind-Boggling Brain Facts

Your brain. It controls everything about how your body works. But how much do you really know about this vital organ?

In honour of Brain Awareness Week, March 16 to 22, here are 9 mind-boggling brain facts you may not know.

1. You can’t tickle yourself because your brain predicts the tickle.
2. When you touch something, your body sends a message to the brain that travels at about 200 km/hour.
3. Information travels between parts of your brain at about 400 km/hour.
4. Your brain is about 80% water.
5. Blood flows through your brain at a rate of 750 ml to 1 L per minute.
6. Your brain weighs about 1.5 kg. This is only 2% of your body’s mass, but your brain uses 20% of the oxygen you breathe.
7. The brain interprets your body’s pain signals, but the brain itself has no pain receptors, so it doesn’t feel pain.
8. More than 100 000 chemical reactions occur in your brain every second.
9. Your brain has about 70 000 thoughts per day.

During Brain Awareness Week—or any time—why not use some of those 70 000 daily thoughts to learn more about how your amazing brain works and how you can keep it healthy? These websites can help.

brainpages.org

For more posts like these, visit the Physical Wellness page.