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TED 2014, What percentage of your brain do you use? - Richard E. Cytowic

What percentage of your brain do you use? - Richard E. Cytowic

An enduring myth says we use

only 10% of our brain.

The other 90% standing idly by for spare capacity.

Hucksters promised to unlock that hidden potential

with methods "based on neuroscience," but all they really unlock is your wallet.

Two thirds of the public

and nearly half of science teachers

mistakenly believe the 10% myth.

In the 1890s, William James,

the father of American psychology,

said, "Most of us do not meet our mental potential." James meant this as a challenge,

not an indictment of scant brain usage.

But the misunderstanding stuck.

Also, scientists couldn't figure out for a long time

the purpose of our massive frontal lobes

or broad areas of the parietal lobe.

Damage didn't cause motor or sensory deficits, so authorities concluded they didn't do anything. For decades, these parts

were called silent areas,

their function elusive.

We've since learned that they underscore executive and integrative ability,

without which, we would hardly be human.

They are crucial to abstract reasoning,

planning,

weighing decisions

and flexibly adapting to circumstances.

The idea that 9/10 of your brain

sits idly by in your skull

looks silly when we calculate how the brain uses energy.

Rodent and canine brains consume

5% of total body energy.

Monkey brains use 10%.

An adult human brain,

which accounts for only 2% of the body's mass, consumes 20% of daily glucose burned.

In children, that figure is 50%,

and in infants, 60%.

This is far more than expected

for their relative brain sizes,

which scale in proportion to body size.

Human ones weigh 1.5 kilograms,

elephant brains 5 kg,

and whale brains 9 kg,

yet on a per weight basis,

humans pack in more neurons

than any other species.

This dense packing is what makes us so smart.

There is a trade-off between body size

and the number of neurons a primate,

including us, can sustain.

A 25 kg ape has to eat 8 hours a day

to uphold a brain with 53 billion neurons.

The invention of cooking,

one and half million years ago,

gave us a huge advantage.

Cooked food is rendered soft and predigested

outside of the body.

Our guts more easily absorb its energy.

Cooking frees up time

and provides more energy

than if we ate food stuffs raw

and so we can sustain brains

with 86 billion densely packed neurons.

40% more than the ape.

Here's how it works: Half the calories a brain burns

go towards simply keeping the structure intact

by pumping sodium and potassium ions

across membranes to maintain an electrical charge.

To do this, the brain has to be an energy hog.

It consumes an astounding 3.4 x 10^21 ATP molecules per minute,

ATP being the coal of the body's furnace. The high cost of maintaining resting potentials

in all 86 billion neurons

means that little energy is left

to propel signals down axons and across synapses,

the nerve discharges that actually get things done.

Even if only a tiny percentage of neurons

fired in a given region at any one time,

the energy burden of generating spikes

over the entire brain

would be unsustainable.

Here's where energy efficiency comes in. Letting just a small proportion of cells

signal at any one time,

known as sparse coding,

uses the least energy,

but carries the most information.

Because the small number of signals

have thousands of possible paths

by which to distribute themselves.

A drawback of sparse coding

within a huge number of neurons

is its cost.

Worse, if a big proportion of cells never fire,

then they are superfluous

and evolution should have jettisoned them long ago.

The solution is to find

the optimum proportion of cells

that the brain can have active at once.

For maximum efficiency,

between 1% and 16% of cells

should be active at any given moment.

This is the energy limit

we have to live with

in order to be conscious at all.

The need to conserve resources

is the reason most of the brain's operations must happen outside of conciousness.

It's why multitasking is a fool's errand. We simply lack the energy to do two things at once

let alone three or five.

When we try, we do each task less well

than if we had given it our full attention.

The numbers are against us.

Your brain is already smart and powerful.

So powerful, that it needs a lot of power

to stay powerful.

And so smart

that it has built in an energy efficiency plan.

So don't let a fradulent myth make you guilty about your

supposedly lazy brain.

Guilt would be a waste of energy.

After all this,

don't you realize it's dumb to waste mental energy?

You have billions of

power-hungry neurons to maintain.

So hop to it!

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What percentage of your brain do you use? - Richard E. Cytowic Jakou|procento|z|tvé|mozku|verbo|ty|využíváš|Richard E Cytowic|E(1)|Richard E Cytowic 什么|||||||||| Wie viel Prozent Ihres Gehirns nutzen Sie? - Richard E. Cytowic ¿Qué porcentaje de tu cerebro utilizas? - Richard E. Cytowic Quel pourcentage de votre cerveau utilisez-vous ? - Richard E. Cytowic Quale percentuale del vostro cervello utilizzate? - Richard E. Cytowic 脳の何パーセントを使っているか?- リチャード・E・サイトウィック 뇌의 몇 퍼센트를 사용하시나요? - Richard E. Cytowic Jakiego procentu mózgu używasz - Richard E. Cytowic Que percentagem do seu cérebro utiliza? - Richard E. Cytowic Какой процент вашего мозга вы используете? - Ричард Э. Цитович Beyninizin yüzde kaçını kullanıyorsunuz? - Richard E. Cytowic Який відсоток свого мозку ви використовуєте? - Річард Е. Цитович 你的大脑使用了多少百分比?- 理查德-E-赛托维克 您使用大腦的百分之幾? ——理查德·E·賽托維奇

An enduring myth says we use An(1)|trvalý|mýtus|říká|my používáme| ||миф||| |dauernder|Mythos||| |long-lasting|||| |duradera|||| Un mit care dăinuie spune că folosim

only 10% of our brain. pouze|naší|naše| |||cerebro doar 10% din creierul nostru.

The other 90% standing idly by for spare capacity. |||бездействуя|||| |||without action|||| |||tatenlos|||zusätzliche|Kapazität |||闲着|||| ta|ostatní|stojící|nečinně|stojí stranou||náhradní|kapacita |||inactiva|||| El 90% restante se queda de brazos cruzados en busca de capacidad sobrante. Celelalte 90% stau degeaba în așteptarea capacității de rezervă.

Hucksters promised to unlock that hidden potential podvodníci|slíbili||odemknout|tu|skrytý|potenciál Мошенники|||||| Händler|versprachen||freisetzen||verborgenen|Potenzial Los mercachifles prometían liberar ese potencial oculto Hucksters a promis să deblocheze acest potențial ascuns

with methods "based on neuroscience," s metodami|metody|založené na|na|neurovědy ||||Neuroscience con métodos "basados en la neurociencia". cu metode "bazate pe neuroștiință"," but all they really unlock is your wallet. ale|všechno co|oni|opravdu|odemykají|je|tvá|peněženka |||||||Geldbörse pero lo único que realmente desbloquean es tu cartera. dar tot ceea ce deblochează cu adevărat este portofelul tău. 但他们真正解锁的只是你的钱包。

Two thirds of the public dva|třetiny||veřejnosti|veřejnosti |Zwei Drittel|||Öffentlichkeit Dos tercios del público Două treimi din public 三分之二的公众

and nearly half of science teachers |téměř|||vědy|učitelé y casi la mitad de los profesores de ciencias și aproape jumătate dintre profesorii de științe 以及近一半的科学教师

mistakenly believe the 10% myth. omylem||| fälschlicherweise|||Mythos creen erróneamente en el mito del 10%. cred în mod eronat în mitul celor 10%.

In the 1890s, William James, |||William James| En la década de 1890, William James,

the father of American psychology, |Vater||amerikanisch| el padre de la psicología estadounidense, părintele psihologiei americane,

said, "Most of us do not meet dijo: "La mayoría de nosotros no cumple a spus: "Cei mai mulți dintre noi nu se întâlnesc our mental potential." |duševní| nuestro potencial mental". potențialul nostru mental." James meant this as a challenge, |meinte||||Herausforderung James quería decir esto como un desafío, James a înțeles acest lucru ca pe o provocare,

not an indictment of scant brain usage. ||обвинение||ограниченного|| ||indictment||limited|| ||acusação||pouca|| ||Anklage||geringfügiger||Gehirnbenutzung ||obžaloba||omezeného|| ||syytteen|||| no una acusación de escaso uso del cerebro. nu o acuzație de utilizare redusă a creierului.

But the misunderstanding stuck. ||Missverständnis|blieb bestehen ||malentendido|persistió Pero el malentendido se mantuvo. Dar neînțelegerea a rămas.

Also, scientists couldn't figure out |Wissenschaftler||| Además, los científicos no pudieron averiguar De asemenea, oamenii de știință nu și-au putut da seama for a long time pentru o lungă perioadă de timp

the purpose of our massive frontal lobes ||||||долями ||||großen|frontalen|Lappen scopul lobilor noștri frontali masivi

or broad areas of the parietal lobe. |||||temenní| |||||теменной| ||Bereiche|||parietalen|Lappen |||||теменной| |amplias||||| sau zone largi ale lobului parietal.

Damage didn't cause motor or sensory deficits, |||||senzorické|deficity ||||||дефициты Schaden|||motorische||sensorischen|Defizite Leziunile nu au provocat deficite motorii sau senzoriale, so authorities concluded they didn't do anything. |Behörden|schlossen|||| așa că autoritățile au ajuns la concluzia că nu au făcut nimic. For decades, these parts |Jahrzehnten||Teile Timp de decenii, aceste piese

were called silent areas, ||тихими|

their function elusive. ||neuchopitelná ||kavala ||schwierig zu f ||elusivo ||неуловимая функция

We've since learned that they underscore |||||zdůrazňují |||||подчеркивают ||gelernt|||unterstreichen ||||ellos|subrayan Desde então, ficámos a saber que eles sublinham executive and integrative ability, výkonná schopnost||integrační| ||интегративная| exekutive||integrative Fähigkeit| ejecutiva||| capacidade executiva e integradora,

without which, we would hardly be human. ||||||Menschen

They are crucial to abstract reasoning, ||klíčové pro||| ||||абстрактному|мышления ||entscheidend für||abstraktem Denken|

planning,

weighing decisions Abwägen|Entscheidungen evaluando|

and flexibly adapting to circumstances. ||||okolnostem |flexibel|anpassen||

The idea that 9/10 of your brain

sits idly by in your skull |nečinně|||| |||||Schädel |inactiva||||

looks silly when we calculate how the brain uses energy. |lächerlich|||berechnen|||||

Rodent and canine brains consume hlodavci||psí|| грызуны||собачьи|| Nagetier||Hund|Gehirne|verbrauchen ||canine||

5% of total body energy.

Monkey brains use 10%. Affe||

An adult human brain, |Erwachsenen||

which accounts for only 2% of the body's mass, |Körpermasse|||||des Körpers| consumes 20% of daily glucose burned. verbraucht|||Glukose| |||glucose|

In children, that figure is 50%,

and in infants, 60%. ||kojenci ||Säuglingen

This is far more than expected

for their relative brain sizes, ||verwandten||Größen

which scale in proportion to body size. |Maßstab||Verhältnis|||

Human ones weigh 1.5 kilograms, |Menschen|wiegen|Kilogramm

elephant brains 5 kg, Elefant||Kilogramm

and whale brains 9 kg, |Wal||

yet on a per weight basis, |||||na základě hmotnosti |||pro||

humans pack in more neurons Menschen|verpacken|||Neuronen

than any other species. |||Art

This dense packing is what makes us so smart. |dichte|Verdichtung||||||

There is a trade-off between body size |||kompromis|kompromis||| |||Abwägung|||| |||intercambio||||

and the number of neurons a primate, ||||||primát ||||||Primat

including us, can sustain. ||můžeme|udržet |||erhalten können

A 25 kg ape has to eat 8 hours a day ||opice|||||| ||Affe||||||

to uphold a brain with 53 billion neurons. |unterstützen||||Milliarden|

The invention of cooking, |Erfindung des Koch||

one and half million years ago, |||Million||

gave us a huge advantage. |||große|

Cooked food is rendered soft and predigested |||převáděna|||předtrávené |||превращается||| gekochte|||weich gemacht|weich||vorverdaut |||made|||

outside of the body.

Our guts more easily absorb its energy. |Darm||||| |guts|||||

Cooking frees up time |schafft frei||

and provides more energy |liefert||

than if we ate food stuffs raw |||||Lebensmittel|roh

and so we can sustain brains ||||udržovat|

with 86 billion densely packed neurons. ||dicht gepackten|dicht gepackt|

40% more than the ape.

Here's how it works: Half the calories a brain burns ||Kalorien|||verbraucht

go towards simply keeping the structure intact ||||||neporušenou ||||||unverändert

by pumping sodium and potassium ions při pumpování||||| ||||калия| |Pumpen|Natrium||Kalium|Ionen ||натрий||калий|ионы

across membranes to maintain an electrical charge. ||||an|| ||||||заряд |Membranen||aufrechterhalten|||Ladung

To do this, the brain has to be an energy hog. ||||||||||žrout energie ||||||||||потребитель энергии ||||||||||consumer ||||||||||ladrão de energia

It consumes an astounding 3.4 x 10^21 ATP molecules per minute, |||ohromující|na||molekul|| |||erstaunliche||ATP-Moleküle|Moleküle||

ATP being the coal of the body's furnace. ||||||těla|topeniště |||Brennstoff||||Ofen adenosine triphos||||||| The high cost of maintaining resting potentials ||||udržování|| ||||Aufrechterhaltung|Ruhe-|Potentiale

in all 86 billion neurons

means that little energy is left

to propel signals down axons and across synapses, ||||axonů|||synapsích |vermitteln|Signale||Axonen|||Synapsen |propel||||||

the nerve discharges that actually get things done. |Nerven|Entladungen||||| ||impulses|||||

Even if only a tiny percentage of neurons ||||winzige|Prozentsatz|| |||||||neurons

fired in a given region at any one time, ||||Region||||

the energy burden of generating spikes ta|||při|| ||Belastung||Erzeugung von|Spitzen ||carga energética|||

over the entire brain

would be unsustainable. ||neudržitelné ||nicht nachhaltig

Here's where energy efficiency comes in. |||účinnost energie|přichází do hry| |||Energieeffizienz|| Letting just a small proportion of cells ||jenom|malou|||

signal at any one time,

known as sparse coding, |||kódování ||разреженное кодирование| ||spärlich|Kodierung

uses the least energy, ||am wenigsten|

but carries the most information.

Because the small number of signals

have thousands of possible paths |tausende||möglichen|Wege

by which to distribute themselves. |||sich verteilen|sich selbst

A drawback of sparse coding |Nachteil||| |недостаток|||

within a huge number of neurons

is its cost.

Worse, if a big proportion of cells never fire, worse||||||||

then they are superfluous |||nadbytečné |||ylimääräisiä |||überflüssig |||избыточны

and evolution should have jettisoned them long ago. ||||отбросила||| ||||discarded||| ||||abandonado-os||| |Evolution|||abgeworfen||| ||||odložila||| ||||hylännyt|||

The solution is to find |Lösung|||

the optimum proportion of cells |optimale||| |optimal|||

that the brain can have active at once.

For maximum efficiency, |maximale|

between 1% and 16% of cells

should be active at any given moment.

This is the energy limit Tämä|||| ||||Grenze

we have to live with

in order to be conscious at all. ||||vědomý|| ||||bewusst||

The need to conserve resources |||Ressourcen sparen|Ressourcen

is the reason most of the brain's operations ||||||des Gehirns|Funktionen must happen outside of conciousness. |se stát||| ||||Bewusstsein

It's why multitasking is a fool's errand. ||||||пустая затея ||Multitasking|||des Narren|Unterfangen ||||||tarefa inútil We simply lack the energy to do two things at once

let alone three or five.

When we try, we do each task less well

than if we had given it our full attention. |||||||total atenção|

The numbers are against us. |die Zahlen|||

Your brain is already smart and powerful.

So powerful, that it needs a lot of power

to stay powerful.

And so smart

that it has built in an energy efficiency plan.

So don't let a fradulent myth ||||podvodný| ||||petollinen myytti| ||||betrügerisch| ||||fraudulent| ||||обманчивый| make you guilty about your ||schuldig||

supposedly lazy brain. údajně|| angeblich|faul|

Guilt would be a waste of energy. Schuld||||||

After all this,

don't you realize it's dumb to waste ||||dumm|| mental energy?

You have billions of Вы||| ||Milliarden|

power-hungry neurons to maintain.

So hop to it! |mach schnell|| |get moving|| así que|||