Thanks to many years of studying our insides at every opportunity, scientists have become well aware of how almost every part of our body works. However, the most mysterious part of our body is the brain. And the more we study it, the more mysterious it becomes. You can't even imagine what amazing things our "thinker" is capable of. Don't worry, scientists didn't know this for a long time either.
Today we are going to share 10 of the most incredible capabilities of our brain that make us almost superheroes.
The brain can create false memories
Here's a scientific fact: our brains are capable of creating fake memories. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you remember something, although in reality it never happened? No, we are not talking about past life memories now, where you were Caesar or Cleopatra. It is about the fact that you "remember" how you did things that in reality you did not do. They thought they had borrowed money from a neighbor, but in fact they did not. We thought they had bought some thing, but in fact they did not buy. There are a lot of such examples.
There are also more impressive ones. For example, our brain can convince us that we have committed a crime. In one experiment, scientists were able to instill and create false memories in 70 percent of the participants. They began to think that they had committed a theft or armed attack.
How it works? It is believed that our brains can fill in the gaps in our memory with inaccurate or completely inaccurate information when we try to remember something.
Promotional video:
Our brain can predict the future
It has been established that there is a certain delay during the receipt of visual information in our brain, due to which we can predict what should happen next.
These predictions are also based on our past experience (a ball is flying at us - you need to dodge; an open road hatch - you need to get around). We don't even connect our consciousness to it (in other words, we don't think about it). All people are capable of predicting the future, which helps us avoid those things that can harm us.
Our brain sees 360 degrees
And this ability makes us look like Spider-Man. Yes, we, or rather our brain, is able to very closely monitor the environment and report that we have not yet really realized. For example, we begin to feel that someone is watching us. A feeling of awkwardness appears, we begin to sweat, the skin becomes covered with goose bumps. We turn our heads in this direction, and we really see that some person is looking at us. Some people call this "sixth sense."
We have no eyes on the back of our heads, and our field of vision is rather narrow, compared to other animals. But the brain doesn't need them there. He has more effective tools for assessing the environment. For example, hearing, which is able to notice even the smallest changes in the surrounding background. And this ability is especially enhanced when we cannot see part of this environment.
Our brain can accurately assess any person in a split second
No matter how unbiased we are trying to seem to ourselves, our brain has its own idea of this question. He is able to assess the person you meet for the first time in just 0.1 seconds (how he looks, how he speaks, how he is dressed, shaved, and so on).
While we are trying to consciously understand all this, our brain, at a subconscious level, already creates a picture of a person (and, moreover, it is quite accurate) and concludes whether you like this person or not.
Our brain is the perfect alarm clock
“I don't need an alarm clock. I am my own alarm clock,”some people say. Know they are not joking. If you stick to a routine (go to bed and get up at the same time), your brain gets used to it.
Our own biological clock is better than any alarm clock. Therefore, many people can wake up even before the nasty bell rings, informing that it is time to get up for work. This is often observed, for example, in office workers.
Our brain can "listen" and learn while sleeping
We used to think that our brains shut down completely during sleep. This is not actually the case. Yes, some parts of the brain do rest, reducing their activity. But, we can even study in our sleep! During the so-called phase of REM sleep, a person is able to remember certain things. During experiments, scientists played certain sound signals (which people had never heard before) in front of sleeping people. Then people woke up, and the researchers played these signals to them again and asked them to say which of these sounds seemed familiar. And people recognized them!
A cool ability, but we don't recommend using it for homework, tests, and important presentations.
The brain is able to learn through imagination
A simple experiment pioneered over 100 years ago. The people were divided into two groups. One group was taught basic piano skills using an instrument. The other group was taught without a piano. People were simply told how to put and move their fingers correctly, and also described how this or that note sounds. By the end of the training, it was found that both groups had the same skills - both were able to play the piano tune they were taught.
In the 90s, using more modern scientific tools, scientists actually figured out that imaginary learning and practice can have the same effect on the brain as real ones.
Our brain has an "autopilot mode"
As soon as we master a skill well, our brain connects a certain department to work, the so-called passive mode network. It is used to perform tasks that do not require complex analysis, since their solution has already been repeatedly tested and brought to automatism.
People have been taught one card game that requires a little thought process. People played well, but when, after numerous games, this very network of passive mode of work was connected to work, they began to play even better.
Learning other types of skills is more difficult for people. For example, playing instruments. At first it is very difficult. But after that, when your hands and fingers have memorized how to play correctly, your brain actually turns off. And you start to do it automatically.
Our brain is able to build muscle in our body
It is summer now and many of us, probably, sigh with bitterness that we could not prepare for it. All these diets and fitness centers have remained our wishes and memories. Do not despair! Our brains are capable of increasing the strength of our bodies if we just think about it.
In an experiment, one group of people was asked to imagine for 11 minutes every day (for 5 days) that they were engaged in increasing the strength of the hands. By the end of the experiment, it was established that the group of people who thought about pumping their arms had a grip strength twice as high as those who did not.
Can you get six abs cubes the same way? You won't know until you try.
Our brain can sense magnetic fields
Some species of animals and birds, as well as insects, are able to sense the earth's magnetic field. This allows them to navigate in space and find the right path. You will be surprised, but a person also has such an opportunity.
In short, experiments have shown that our brains are capable of detecting changes in the direction of a magnetic field. True, we do not use this ability. But our distant ancestors could very well.
Nikolay Khizhnyak