1. Every day we have about 6,000 thoughts, but most of them are repeats.
2. There’s no scientific evidence that babies get smarter by listening to Mozart. Intelligence improves if children are creating music, rather than listening passively.
3. Blind people do not have better hearing, but they do have better memories for what they hear.
4. Memory starts to decline when you hit your 30s.
5. Your brain uses about the same amount of energy as a refrigerator light.
6. Your brain is made up of 60% fat which makes it highly susceptible to toxic damage from pesticides, herbicides, hormones, pollutants and medications.
7. Alcohol in moderation does not kill mature neurons but will cause neurons to die in a fetus.
8. Yawning is contagious, but no one knows why. It may be a way to signal others that it is important to remain alert in certain situations. Babies don’t yawn contagiously until they are about one year old.
9. To hear better on your cell phone, try covering the mouthpiece to enhance the brain’s ability to separate different signals from each other.
10. To get rid of “brain freeze” from eating or drinking something very cold, try pressing your tongue or thumb to the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth. The warmth will stop the pain.
Sources: Welcome to Your Brain by Sandra Aamodt and San Wang (Bloomsbury), Why You Shouldn’t Eat Your Boogers by Francesca Gould (Penguin), Optimum Nutrition for the Mind by Patrick Holford (Basic Health Publications) and The Brain Trust Program by Larry McCleary (Perigee).
