How much does the human brain weigh? Does the mass of gray matter affect the intellectual level? How different is the brain weight of a child and an adult? Does it decrease in size with aging? Questions – a large number…
So how much does a human brain center weigh?
So, in order. How much does the human brain weigh on average? According to scientific studies, the weight of the central nervous system organ, which consists of a large number of nerve cells, is from 1.1 to 2.0 kg (otherwise, 2% of the total body weight).
Male males have approximately 100-130 grams more gray matter than females.
Is intelligence proportional to weight?
How much does an adult brain weigh? For a man, the average is 1424 grams. The record weight was recorded by I. S. Turgenev - 2012. For comparison: the weight of the brain of Ludwig van Beethoven was 1750, V. I. Lenin - 1340, SergeiYesenin - 1920, D. I. Mendeleev - 1571 These indicators refute the theory that the level of intelligence is affected by the weight of the gray matter. The brain of a genius can be revealed by an order of magnitude less than the brain of a person deprived of broad mental abilities. It has been scientifically proven that the level of intelligence is influenced by certain parts of a given organ of the nervous system, in which the frequency of the location of neurons and the quantitative connections between them play a key role. As a prime example, the largest brain weighing 2850 grams belonged to a demented person.
How much does the modern human brain weigh? The human brain, which occupies almost the entire cavity of the cerebral part of the skull and takes its shape in the process of growth and development, is evolving: in the 19th century, its average weight for men was 1372 grams, which is much less than modern values. For the fair sex, the largest indicator is the weight of 1565 grams, the smallest - 1096 grams (was recorded in a 31-year-old lady). It was a woman, or rather a 10-year-old girl, Marilyn Vos Savant, a resident of Missouri (USA), who in 1956 managed to pass the most difficult test with a score of 228, which was a kind of pass to the Mega Society, which unites people with the highest IQ scores.
Brain weight proportional to age?
The mass of gray matter also depends on the age of the person. In a newborn child, this figure averages 455 grams. How much does an adult human brain weigh? The human brain is not a constant.
From the moment of birth until the age of 27, the gray matter "grows" and then begins to decrease. Every 10 years, its mass is reduced by 30 grams. By the way, with old age, the speed of the signals of the nervous system also decreases. From an average of 288 km / h, it decreases by 15%.
Effective use of the brain in mental activity
How much the human brain weighs - it seems to be clear. The question arises: is this substance used to the maximum? There is an opinion that in life a person uses only 10% of his brain. Is it so? This opinion is ambiguous, but most scientists tend to conclude that the brain uses its full potential in work. To complete even the simplest task, the gray matter is activated in all its departments.
As soon as a person begins to think hard, the amount of energy intake entering the body reaches a figure of 25%, while at rest the gray matter requires no more than 9% of energy. Activating brain activity requires additional oxygen supply, which forces the brain to take almost a third of it out of the body.
Keep your brain in shape
Keeping the brain in shape helps regular exercise, contributing to an increase in capillaries. And this, in turn, ensures the maximum intake of oxygen and glucose into the body. The most effective exercises are those that last at least 30 minutes a day.day.
The most effective method of developing the brain is considered to be engaging in a new, up to this point unfamiliar activity, as well as communicating with people who are superior in intelligence to the interlocutor. The more educated a person is, the less likely it is for the occurrence of brain diseases, because mental activity causes the production of additional tissue that replaces the damaged one.
A bit about the brain of other living organisms
How much the human brain weighs - it became clear from the above. And what is its weight, for example, an elephant?
Compared to the human brain, the brain of the largest mammals on the planet is 2 times larger and weighs 4 to 5 kg. This once again confirms the theory that the level of intelligence and the weight of gray matter are in different planes.
The blue whale is considered the largest animal belonging to the class of mammals. Its average weight is 150 tons, and its length is 30 meters. The weight of the brain is 9 kg with its ratio to body weight: 1 to 40,000.
But long-extinct dinosaurs, reaching 9 meters in height, had a brain the size of a walnut and weighed only 70 grams.
