It is surprising how little we know what the brain is and how it works. It is known for certain that the brain is capable of generating electrical impulses and is capable of powering a 25-watt light bulb. Now imagine how much effort and energy is expended to keep all vital processes in norm, how many resources are needed to control vital activity at the highest levels. How does this happen and why? And where does the brain get its energy for such powerful organizational work? Is it possible to prolong the tone and youth of the brain and how to charge the brain? , we tell you in the article.
How the brain works
The brain is like jelly, and it is brittle jelly. To prevent damage and injury, nature saw to it that it was reliably protected. First, a strong skull, and second, a soft connective tissue membrane, which prevents the brain from hitting the walls of the skull. And finally, the cerebrospinal fluid within the skull protects the brain from concussions and injury.
What is the brain?This is approximately one and a half kilograms of "smart" mass in the human body, consisting of billions of neurons, nerve cell processes (axons), through which nerve impulses and signals are transmitted. Furthermore, each signal is generated and received by a certain part of the brain. To prevent dysfunctions in its work, the brain needs 20% of all the oxygen transported by the cells of the body, fats and carbohydrates in sufficient quantities. Its lack leads to an altered concentration of attention, memory, provokes psychosis, depressive states and deactivates other systems and organs. The disorders are often seen in those who regularly experiment with diets and dietary restrictions. Hungry people are also among those whose brain cells suffer the most: irritation and aggression appear.
What functions does the brain have?
The brain is our everything! It depends on him whether we raise our hands, scratch the back of our heads, cry or laugh, fall in love, remember or forget. Whether we live happily ever after or suffer, whether we are healthy or sick depends on the quality of the processes that take place in the brain. Who we will become or not, what talents we will develop and what characters we will possess. The brain controls everything and even a little more than we think. As the main organ of the central nervous system, it has a clear hierarchy of functions. Each zone is responsible for certain functions.
- The frontal lobe is responsible for conscious movements, speech and writing, our will and desire to achieve results.
- Temporal zones are responsible for speech perception, auditory and visual information, long-term memory, facial recognition, and are responsible for the ear for music, rhythm, and musical perception.
- The parietal zone is responsible for orientation in space, conscious movements, feeling the body and its parts, recognizing objects, calculating in the mind, feeling pain, touching, high and low temperatures.
- The occipital area is responsible for the processing of visual information. The eyes are a device that reads an image of the world around us through exposure to light. But the back of the brain transforms it, converting light into electrical impulses.
- The cerebellum is responsible for maintaining balance and coordinating movements.
The brain works all the time, all the time and everything, and not between 3-5%, as said. Even in a dream. The claim that the brain rests at night is not entirely true. The work of the brain in a state of rest at night differs only in the activity of the regions. More precisely, it increases the frequency of impulses in the cerebral cortex. But what is happening there? It is at the moment of sleep when the subconscious enters the scene, the experience, emotions and knowledge are ordered and distributed, and most importantly, the restoration of the systems and organs of the body. She maintains that drowsiness is a signal from the body that it needs a "check-up" and recovery.
How many resources the brain needs daily
Understanding how much data is in the brain and how many functions it performs, a reasonable question arises: what does it take to improve the quality of the brain, enhance its capabilities and prolong the youth of its cells? And are there pills that, like in the movies, would turn the brain into a supercomputer?
Brain nutrition
The brain spends most of the resources that arrive in a day. So, for daily self-care at rest (we will assume this is a normal day in "light" mode, without physical effort and expensive intellectual activity), the brain will consume 250 kcal. If a person activates the higher complexity mode, the brain will take in the prescribed 750-1000 of the daily calorie intake. Now imagine that a dieter with a calorie intake of 1300-1500 will simply fall off at the end of the day, even in "light" mode. After all, to go to work every day, handle the baby at home, do physical work, exercise abdominals, cook food, consume and digest, the body needs at least 2000 kcal, not counting the cost of maintaining the brain +500kcal on average. You will definitely manage to lose weight quickly. But it goes without saying that a person on a limited diet will successfully overcome stressful situations and loads from day to day, and will achieve good results in the professional or sports field.
Vitamins for the mind
In addition to energy costs, the brain needs vitamins and minerals for normal function. Its deficiency in the body can be constantly created. The reason may be regular physical activity, unhealthy diet, diet, stress, lack of sleep, change of seasons, disturbances in the functioning of some organs and systems (gastrointestinal tract or endocrine system), of which, again, the brain isresponsable.
Do you remember this famous phrase: all diseases come from the nerves? This is absolutely true! And the leader of the entire nervous system is the brain! So by controlling the brain, feeding it regularly, you can not only pump the nervous system, but also protect yourself from many diseases.
Scientists agree that the average life expectancy of a person is greatly underestimated. Actually, under ideal conditions, healthy sleep, high-quality nutrition, regular meditation practices (a tool to relieve stress, improve the nervous system, intellectual and spiritual growth), Homo Sapiens can reach 150. Of course, Vitamin supplements alone will not make you live to 150. years, but they can definitely help you on your way to that coveted figure.
Vitamins for the mind
Intelligence, like the triceps, can be pumped. And to ensure youth and plasticity of the mind, its clarity and freshness, it is better to pump it daily. What vitamins can help in this difficult, but extremely important matter?
Group B vitamins: ensure the normal functioning of the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to neuron, improve blood supply to the brain and, with it, increase access to oxygen, one of the main resources of thebrain. They nourish the nervous system, preventing insomnia, depression, and fatigue, which directly affect the quality of brain cells, the quality of neural connections, and transmitted impulses.
Vitamins of group P. Today, 5000 substances are known that are identical in properties to vitamins of group P. These include flavonoids, anthocyanidins, isoflavonoids, powerful antioxidants. Vitamins of group P protect the brain and blood vessels, improve their tone. They slow down oxidative processes in the body, improve cellular metabolism.
Vitamin C - A lack of which causes the body to degenerate connective tissue, slowing down or stopping collagen production. Due to the lack of vitamin C, the balance of the enzymes necessary for the functioning of organs and systems is disturbed. The vitamin acts as a catalyst for metabolic processes. Protects the body and brain, protects against mental or physical overload.
Omega-3 is a source of docosahexaenoic, eicosapentaenoic and linolenic acids, which the body cannot synthesize on its own. And they have an important function: neuroprotective. Omega-3 helps increase and maintain mental alertness, especially in stressful conditions and seasonal blues.
Vitamin E is a valuable substance of the cell membrane in brain cells. Due to the vitamin, the body produces the biomarker DHA-PC, the lack of which increases the chances of getting Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin E prevents the significant loss of molecules very important for the brain and the death of neurons.
Multivitamins and drugs that improve brain activity and nutrition of brain cells with proven efficacy: dry extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves, glycine.
How to improve brain function
As long as I think, I will live. In fact, a reasonable man is capable of moving all humanity with the power of thought and thanks to thought. But there is also a downside to the coin. Thinking too much is really harmful. A stream of wandering thoughts can de-energize the brain to the "lemon squeezed" state. After all, every thought is wasted energy if it does not receive physical incarnation. And the constant energy gap in the head is not able to give forces to do something real and valuable instead of thoughts. This is how laziness, depression, internal aggression are born, the brain begins to work differently and certainly not for the better. Learn to stop the flow of faces, memories, dreams, dialogues within yourself, learn to relax and meditate. Special exercises to develop attention and concentration will help you do this.
Feed your brain. In every sense. Do not offend or deprive him, because he contains you, and you, him. The game with a goal ends sooner or later in defeat. Give your brain a good intellectual dinner, eat a nutritious breakfast, play educational games for lunch. And very soon it will respond to your care 10 times stronger. It will give new ideas, strength, good figure and youth, good sleep, good humor and harmonious relationships. That's what you want, right? Then feed your brain with nuts, fish, delicious books, and smart people.
Stimulates pleasure centers. The brain really needs pleasure. For him, it is the engine of progress. The best helper in this matter is serotonin. Get it every day: any creativity you like, your favorite hobby and self-realization, sports, laughter, walking, singing, dancing. And if you think you don't have time for this, then it will help if you find out.
Learn something new every day. A new foreign word, a new country and its capital, a new word from an explanatory dictionary, new useful information. This can be easily done by special mobile applications that will tell you a new word every day. Teaching is light. And this is the case when the brain will generate it in the form of energy for all wishes and achievements!
Sport is also capable of pumping the brain and also protects neurons and neural connections. Interestingly, a TV addict who reads a book will remember less information than someone who plays sports regularly and reads "smart" books in his spare time.
In any unclear situation, go to sleep! This joke has the right to life, because in a dream the brain patches, repairs, heals not only itself, but the whole body as a whole. What do you usually do when you do not know the way out of the current situation, what is the best solution? You are wasting energy! Give your brain enough sleep to give you the best solution to the dead end and the correct answer to your life question. The answer will come quickly and you will definitely find a way out. Lack of sleep accompanied by endless thoughts before falling asleep can have bad consequences.