The brain is the set of organs that is at the base of thoughts and emotions; without it, the human mind simply would not exist.

Although everything we consciously experience is experienced in the first person thanks to the brain, we know very little about this structure of the human body. Its complexity and the speed with which it does its job make it almost impossible to know in detail what is happening in it at any given moment. In part, this is why it is one of the most mysterious anatomical structures.

In this article we will see several curiosities about the brain that help us to get an idea of how amazing this point of union between psychology and biology can be.

The most impressive brain facts

These are some of the reasons why the neurosciences are a fascinating field of study.

1. There is a part of the brain dedicated to recognizing faces

Instantaneous face recognition is one of the most defining characteristics of human beings, and facilitates social relations in a species as gregarious as ours. It is a skill that we enjoy thanks to , a plot of the cerebral cortex called the fusiform gyrus , which is also activated when we see face-like shapes in what are known as paridolls.

2. The brain may be the union of two nervous systems

There is a theory according to which the central nervous system is the product of the union of two nervous systems that developed separately over millions of years of biological evolution: one dedicated to capturing stimuli from the environment, and the other dedicated to moving parts of the organism. For example, it has been seen that in molluscs such as octopuses there are only a few points of connection between the brain and the neurons that activate the tentacles.

3. 60% of this is fat

Incredible as it may seem, most of the brain is basically fat. Specifically, most of the fat is stored in what are known as myelin sheaths , which cover a part of the neurons known as the axon so that the electrical impulse that these cells transmit goes faster.

4. Never stops working

The brain literally never stops being activated. It doesn’t stop being on even when we sleep or when we lose consciousness because of a blow or an illness. One of the curiosities of the brain is that its rhythm of work adapts to the needs of the moment, but the only time it stops is when it dies.

5. No pain receptors

The brain is full of nerve fibers, but is insensitive to pain unless this “signal” comes from other parts of the body . This makes it possible, following certain procedures, to leave it uncovered in operations while the person is conscious; in these cases, it is possible to cut off parts of the cerebral cortex, and the patient does not have to notice anything.

6. The number of neurons in the brain is incredible

There are about 80 billion neurons in the brain. In addition, different parts of the brain have higher concentrations of these. For example, the cerebellum is known to harbor a high density of neurons.

7. Can adapt to the disappearance of one of its parts

The brain is a set of organs that has a great capacity to adapt to injuries , taking into account the importance of the functions it performs. This means that in some cases certain people have lost practically half of their brain, and in spite of this they have survived. When something like this happens, the parts that are left healthy “learn” to do a lot of the tasks that the parts that have died or been removed used to do.

8. The most numerous nerve cells are not the neurons

There are two fundamental types of nerve cells: neurons and glial cells . The latter are much more numerous than the former, as they make up 85% of the brain.

9. We lose neural connections

When we are born, each one of our neurons is, on average, more connected to its companions than when we are adults. That means that over time there are interconnections that are lost , probably due to lack of use, keeping those that are more useful.

10. Each memory has two copies

Recent research has shown that when you memorize something, this information is stored in two different places at once: the prefrontal cortex and a part of the brain known as the subnicle, below the hippocampus. In the first moments, the memory used is the one stored in the subicle, but with the passage of time this “copy” disappears and the one in the prefrontal cortex is used, which deals with long-term memory.

11. Brain injuries modify our personality

It has been proven that certain lesions in the brain cause people to switch from one personality type to another. For example, damage to some parts of the frontal lobe leads to disinhibition and aggression.