The Human Brain

In the Nature of Human beings’ course, I watched a TED talk video presented by a Neuro-Psychiatrist. His presentation was about the human brain. It made an impression on me, hence, my desire to share:

The Brain is involved in everything we do; it is the organ of our judgement, personality, character, and innovation. The brain influences how we think, feel, act, and interact.

The brain is the most complex organ with:

• A billion nerve cells.
• More connections than stars.
• Information travels 269 miles/hour.
• Brain is 2% of body weight but uses 20-30% of calories.
• Losses an average of 85,000 cells/day.
• The health of the brain either decelerates innovation or accelerates it.
• It is the most expensive real estate in the body.

There are two types of brains, the healthy and unhealthy brain:

The healthy brain makes an individual:

• Happier
• Healthier
• Wealthier
• Wiser
• More creative
• More innovative

The unhealthy brain makes an individual:

• Sadder
• Sicker
• Poorer
• Not as smart
• Rigid
• Inflexible

The causes of unhealthy brain may include but not limited to the following:

• Brain injuries
• Drugs and alcohol
• Obesity
• Smoking
• Diabetes
• SAD diet
• High blood pressure
• Environmental toxins
• Lack of exercise
• ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts)

Ways of enhancing the health of our brain:

• Social connection: Man is a social being and therefore thrives by interacting and socially engaging with others. This sparks our interests and fire our imagination. Human contact doesn’t just feel good, it can make a difference to our brain health and wellbeing. Socially engaging people may suffer lower brain problems compared to those who spend much time on their own.
• New learning: Developing new skills stimulates our brain and causes the brain to constantly process and refine the information that is acquired. Learning keeps our brain active and healthy.
• Great diet: We are what we eat. This means that to maintain a healthy brain, one must strive to consume meals that are essential to one’s brain development and health.
• Sleeping: the importance of sleep cannot be overemphasised. The brain flushes out toxins and makes lots of repairs while we are asleep. These activities are critical to cognitive functions.
•  Exercise: engaging in an exercise stimulates the brain and keeps it active and healthy.
• Meditation: this is a good method of engaging and relaxing our brain this leads to happiness and engenders brain health.
• Gratitude: the brain is where information is processed, therefore, by thinking right and having an attitude of gratitude, one will greatly influence his thought pattern and improve the brain effectiveness.

Final note: The brain is the most important part of our body. If any part of our brain develops a problem, the whole body is affected. For example, if someone suffers a stroke (in this case my mother), blood supply to to the brain is reduced or cut completely, the result is that the body will automatically become inactive.

Apart from following the guidelines for a healthy brain as proposed above, it is important to monitor the blood pressure (BP) and the calories (sugar level) in order to keep our brain in check.

Thank you!

Adim Effanga