kramer: "dreams within dreams" (inception style)

wakes: . How does that happen? Dream within dreams as in dreaming as though you were dreaming?

wakes:
The human brain has amazed and baffled people throughout the ages. Some scientists and doctors have devoted their entire lives to learning how the brain works. It is no wonder that people enjoy learning facts about this incredible organ in the human body.

Below, you will find 100 [/b]facts about the brain including [b]how it works, how it develops, what it controls, how it affects sleep, dreams, and memory, and more, which may be helpful. When you finish reading about these fun facts, take this short brainpower quiz and see how much you learned about the human brain.

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES
These facts will teach you interesting bits of information about the physical make-up of the human brain.

Weight. The weight of the human brain is about 3 lbs(1.36078Kg).
Cerebrum. The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain and makes up 85% of the brain’s weight.
Skin. Your skin weighs twice as much as your brain.
Gray matter. The brain’s gray matter is made up of neurons, which gather and transmit signals.
White matter. The white matter is made up of dendrites and axons, which create the network by which neurons send their signals.
Gray and white. Your brain is 60% white matter and 40% gray matter.
Water. The brain is made up of about 75% water.
Neurons. Your brain consists of about 100 billion neurons.
Synapses. There are anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 synapses for each neuron.
No pain. There are no pain receptors in the brain, so the brain can feel no pain.
Largest brain. While an elephant’s brain is physically larger than a human brain, the human brain is 2% of total body weight (compared to 0.15% of an elephant’s brain), meaning humans have the largest brain to body size.
Blood vessels. There are 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain.
Fat. The human brain is the fattest organ in the body and may consists of at least 60% fat.

THE DEVELOPING BRAIN
Starting from within the womb, fetal brain development begins the amazing journey that leads to a well-developed brain at birth that continues to grow for 18 more years.
Neurons. Neurons develop at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early pregnancy.
Size at birth. At birth, your brain was almost the same size as an adult brain and contained most of the brain cells for your whole life.
Newborn’s growth. A newborn baby’s brain grows about three times its size in the first year.
Stopped growing. Your brain stopped growing at age 18.
Cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex grows thicker as you learn to use it.
Stimulation. A stimulating environment for a child can make the difference between a 25% greater ability to learn or 25% less in an environment with little stimulation.
New neurons. Humans continue to make new neurons throughout life in response to mental activity.
Read aloud. Reading aloud and talking often to a young child promotes brain development.- TAKE NOTE, PARENTS!
Emotions. The capacity for such emotions as joy, happiness, fear, and shyness are already developed at birth. The specific type of nurturing a child receives shapes how these emotions are developed.
First sense. The first sense to develop while in utero is the sense of touch. The lips and cheeks can experience touch at about 8 weeks and the rest of the body around 12 weeks.
Bilingual brains. Children who learn two languages before the age of five alters the brain structure and adults have a much denser gray matter.
Child abuse and the brain. Studies have shown that child abuse can inhibit development of the brain and can permanently affect brain development.

BRAIN FUNCTION
From the invisible workings of the brain to more visible responses such as yawns or intelligence, find out how the brain functions with these facts.
Oxygen. Your brain uses 20% of the total oxygen in your body.
Blood. As with oxygen, your brain uses 20% of the blood circulating in your body.
Unconsciousness. If your brain loses blood for 8 to 10 seconds, you will lose consciousness.
Speed. Information can be processed as slowly as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec (about 268 miles/hr).
Wattage. While awake, your brain generates between 10 and 23 watts of power–or enough energy to power a light bulb.
Yawns. It is thought that a yawn works to send more oxygen to the brain, therefore working to cool it down and wake it up.
Neocortex. The neocortex makes up about 76% of the human brain and is responsible for language [/b]and [b]consciousness. The human neocortex is much larger than in animals.
10%. The old adage of humans only using 10% of their brain is not true. Every part of the brain has a known function.
Brain death. The brain can live for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, and then it begins to die. No oxygen for 5 to 10 minutes will result in permanent brain damage. BE CAREFUL!
Highest temperature. The next time you get a fever, keep in mind that the highest human body temperature ever recorded was 115.7 degrees–and the man survived.
Stress. Excessive stress has shown to "alter brain cells, brain structure and brain function."
Love hormones and autism. Oxytocin, one of the hormones responsible for triggering feelings of love in the brain, has shown some benefits to helping control repetitive behaviors in those with autism.
Food and intelligence. A study of one million students in New York showed that students who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14% better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives. STUDENTS, UNA HEAR?
Seafood. In the March 2003 edition of Discover magazine, a report describes how people in a 7-year study who ate seafood at least one time every week had a 30% lower occurrence of dementia-MEMORY LOSS.

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE BRAIN
From tickling to tasting to decision-making, find out how the brain affects what you experience.
Tickles. You can’t tickle yourself because your brain distinguished between unexpected external touch and your own touch.
Imaginary playmates. A study from Australia showed that children with imaginary playmates between the ages of 3 and 9 tended to be first-born children.
Reading faces. Without any words, you may be able to determine if someone is in a good mood, is feeling sad, or is angry just by reading the face. A small area in the brain called the amygdala [/b]is responsible for your ability to read someone else’s face for clues to how they are feeling.
[b]Ringing in the ears. For years, medical professionals believed that tinnitus was due to a function within the mechanics of the ear, but newer evidence shows that it is actually a function of the brain.
Pain and gender. Scientists have discovered that men and women’s brains react differently to pain, which explains why they may perceive or discuss pain differently.
Supertasters. There is a class of people known as supertasters who not only have more taste buds on the tongue, but whose brain is more sensitive to the tastes of foods and drinks. In fact, they can detect some flavors that others cannot.
Cold. Some people are much more sensitive to cold and actually feel pain associated with cold. Research as shown that the reason is due to certain channels that send cold information to the brain.
Decision-making. Women tend to take longer to make a decision, but are more likely to stick with the decision, compared to men, who are more likely to change their mind after making a decision.
Exercise. Some studies indicate that while some people are naturally more active, others are naturally more inactive, which may explain why getting out and exercising is more difficult for some.
Boredom. Boredom is brought on by a lack of change of stimulation, is largely a function of perception, and is connected to the innate curiosity found in humans.
Physical illness. The connection between body and mind is a strong one. One estimate is that between 50-70% of visits to the doctor for physical ailments are attributed to psychological factors.
...TO BE CONTINUED...