is it true that we only use 1/3 of our brains?

Answer 1

For most people it's 10%

Answer 2

it may be common knowlage for most that we use 10% or so but that is false and as far as 33% that might be another story that i havint heard but in truth several parts of the brain are working just regulate and monitor ur body keeping it in the best shape posible to live and many other things. then theres ur memory with an ungodly amount of capacity which people consantly access when doing day to day things. there also ur 5 sences that ur brain consantly prossesses. so if doing some thing or many things that reqiure more output from sertain parts of ur brain then u can say ur useing most of it but even if it reaches its past it limit of 100% the brain will increase what it can but if its still too much much information and ability then your brain would simply discard much information as posible and if not brain cells will die but to reach this limit is rare if non existant considering the brain adapts well with new information and if need be will discard old.
so all in all the human uses alot more then 10% but realy never hits the 100% mark either so a fare esimate is 33% to 66% at one time for a normal person. also the human race is still evolving and it shows with the brain getting more adept

Answer 3

A commonly misquoted "fact" is that we use only 10% of our brain. But you won't find that number quoted by ANY experts on the human brain. In fact, if you go by areas of the brain being active (rather than individual nuerons), then ALL of your brain areas are active every day, which means you use 100% of your brain. :)

The thought that we "cant" be using all of our brain seems to stem from people thinking our brain is like a hard-drive. We take in new info every day, and therefore we must have empty storage space. But the brain doesn't work that way, so its a bad comparison, and misleading to boot.

Answer 4

As a previous respondent mentioned, we use 100% of our brains, just not all at once. We typically will use no more than aprox. 10% at any given time, however. For example, the occipital region of the brain is used for processing visual stimuli; the temporal lobe regions process auditory stimuli; the frontal lobes are active during decision making, etc. The areas of the brain that are active while "handling" numbers are different than those areas that are active while listening to poetry or those used while processing musical stimuli.

The idea of our only using 10%, or less, of our brains was common until technologies such as MRI machines came on the scene, which allowed scientists to see the brain in "fluid action", as opposed to earlier technologies that only allowed "snap shots", in which no more than aprox. 10% of the brain would have been actively engaged at any given time.

Answer 5

Dr. James W. Kalat, author of the textbook Biological Psychology, has another idea for the origin of the 10% myth. Dr. Kalat points out that neuroscientists in the 1930s knew about the existence of the large number of "local" neurons in the brain, but the only thing they knew about these cells is that they were small. The misunderstanding of the function of local neurons may have led to the 10% myth.

For more interesting facts see the source link below.

Answer 6

This is a falsehood that has been perpetuated for a large number of years. While we may not understand all the workings of the brain, it is clear that we use all of it for our function in everyday life. The advent of functional MRI and PET scanning shows us the changes in activity level dependent upon the task being undertaken, but this is the change in activity that is noted. The different regions of the brain are all involved in controlling or regulating the entire array of functions of the human organism and it does so by using all of its circuits not by using some small fraction.

Answer 7

we only use 5-10% of our brain, 1/3 is about 33% that is not possible, maybe in 1000 years time then it's possible.

Answer 8

Humans use 10% of their brain to process all of the information they know, use, and store.
This 10% comes from all different areas of the brain.
I have heard the most ingenious person uses 12% of their brain, i.e. Einstein.
God bless.

Answer 9

1/3 of our brain is too much for any one to handle. Think of information overloads. It like having encyclopedia in your memory section of your brain. 10% is about right for average brain.

Answer 10

We use all of our brain throughout the day, just not all at once