Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="apoptosis" data-source="post: 4637740" data-attributes="member: 3226">I will preface this with i am a neurochemist in drug development and while i am very wrong on many things, i do know this subject matter pretty well. Honestly the 10% is a myth. Though it is a myth that did originate from some unusual phenomena that we have observed (certain developmental disorders, cases of brain damaged patients etc.). Heck depending on the phenomena the 10% could be 5% or 20% etc.The brain is remarkably plastic and contrary to popular belief you do grow neurons even in adulthood. It also has a large number of compensatory adaptive advantages that allow the brain to rewire itself after damage.If you look at any PET or fMRI you will see that they entire brain is used quite often. Accumulated evidence leaves no doubt that most all of the brain is used.Every so often a neurobiology article will come out using this myth as a bit of a joke as an intro to the article but it is really a myth.Others are free to disagree but that is the consensus of the experts in neurobiology. It is one of the most frustrating myths in neurobiology as it wont seem to die. The other is the blown out of proportion idea of left vs right brain activities (most all activities use s synthesis of both sides)While at one time maybe the claim could be used without looking very foolish that is no longer true.</blockquote>