Fun Facts About the Brain

• Blueberries seem to spark the growth of brain cells and improve memory! A Tufts University neuroscientist fed rats blueberries for two months. They then had to swim through a maze, as did rats whose diets did NOT include blueberries. After five days, the blueberry-fed animals made only half the mistakes as the rats that did not eat blueberries. Source: the Dana Foundation's BRAIN in the News.
• Messages travel to and from your brain at over 250 mph, the fastest speed occuring anywhere in your body!! *
• Your brain holds over 100 BILLION neurons, or nerve cells, each one connecting to hundreds of other nerve cells. *
• The brain of an octopus has approximately 300 million neurons. Source: How Animals See, S. Sinclair, 1985.
• Rate of neuron growth (early pregnancy) = 250,000 neurons/minute Source: Brain Facts and Figures
• Nerve cells need a continuous supply of both food (glucose) and oxygen. *
• All of your "thinking" is done by electricity and chemicals. *
• Your brain is about as big as two fists held together and weighs about 3 pounds. Source: Brainbox, Rose & Lichtenfels 1997.
• Leonardo da Vinci was one of the first people to realize the real shape of the ventricles inside the brain. For thousands of years before, they had always been drawn as spheres. Leonardo poured hot wax into the ventricles of a dead ox to reveal the true shape of the ventricle system. *

*Source: BIG HEAD! A Book About Your Brain and Your Head, Rowan 1998.