"We only use 10% of our brain": myth or reality?

One of the most popular beliefs, under examination.

Normally, in this type of articles it is advisable not to use the first paragraph to give an answer to the question posed in the title. However, there are special cases, such as this one, in which it is practically impossible to make an uncertainty that is based on the most absolute of nothingness last.

We use only 10% of our brain: one of the most popular scientific myths.

No, it is not true that we use only 10% of our brain.. It is a myth, first of all, because it is based on a statement that is too ambiguous not to be so (what does it mean to "use the brain"? How is the remaining 90% distributed?) and, secondly, because, although it is disguised as scientific knowledge by posing it as a matter of percentages, it is not supported by empirical evidence (in fact, the origin of this idea is attributed to Albert Einsteinone of the greatest scientific references who, despite his merits, did not specialize in the functioning of the brain).

However, despite the inaccuracy of this belief, it is possible to refute it on several fronts. Precisely because, in addition to being ambiguous, it is erroneous.

10% of the brain means low efficiency

First of all, it should be pointed out that brain tissue that is not used is probably dead brain tissue. Our body functions according to the strictest criteria of efficiency, and many parts of the body that are not being wasted tend to be converted into something more useful. are tending to be converted into something more useful.

Neurons, in particular, are subject to a type of ordered and programmed cell death, called apoptosis. apoptosiswhich serves to improve the overall functioning of the brain. In this way, the materials from which these cells were made are reused and space is made available for other connections. At the individual level, moreover, neurons need to receive electrical shocks with a certain frequency in order not to die.

A burden for evolution

In addition, a large and useless brain, such as the one we could suppose we would have if the myth of 10% of the brain were true, is a burden from an evolutionary point of view. from the evolutionary point of view. No animal is interested in having an overdeveloped organ that it does not use as much as it should: rather than a potential, it is a problem.

The human brain, in particular, tops the ranking of the organs that consume the most energy, and therefore it makes no sense to maintain a part that is useless. It would be of no use if that remaining 90% could be "unlocked" and used in the future: if it were not used by default, evolution would have been filing it down over the millennia to the point of practically making it disappear.

Switching on and off

Imagine for a moment that this hidden part of the brain was not located in a fixed place, but was constantly changing, and that it could not be located in a specific place in the brain, but was distributed throughout the neural networks that live in us. Would the belief that we only use 10% of the brain make sense? Well, no, neither.

Functionally, the fact that at certain times there are neurons "off" does not mean that they are not used. Like good nerve cells, part of the process by which neurons communicate with each other is based on the firing rate of electricity. Therefore, as the information they work with is, at certain times, the firing frequency, there must be times when there is no electrical surge running through the neuron. In the same way, for the brain to be useful, it is necessary that some areas of tissue are more active than others: when we are listening to a piece of music it is not essential to have the language centers highly activated, and when we try to recognize someone's face it is not necessary to mentally rehearse the sequence of tai chi positions.

To have all areas of the brain intensely activated would be impractical and would have disastrous health consequences. would have disastrous consequences for health and the maintenance of consciousness.

The unfathomable realm of unconsciousness

The concept of consciousness also provides a clue as to why it is not wrong to believe that we only use 10% of the brain. The brain is basically an organ dedicated to maintaining unconscious processes. Consciousness is dwarfed by the enormous number of unconscious tasks we perform every day: from directing most of the gestures of the face, to maintaining our balance, to involuntarily remembering a past experience, or associating a word we have read in a magazine with a piece of music.

The unconscious governs almost all our actions, and it is not because it is discreet that it ceases to exist. It is possible that the myth of 10% of the brain is based on the desire to dominate all those processes that we cannot control and that, nevertheless, show incredible power and versatility. Unrealistic aspirations, of course, if we take into account that consciousness barely allows us to mentally divide and multiply relatively short numbers. The boundaries of consciousness may be narrow, but they do not constrain our potential.