It's amazing how little we know what the brain is and how it works. It is well known that the brain is capable of generating electrical impulses and feeding a 25 watt light bulb! Now imagine how much effort and energy is expended to keep all vital processes within the 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? It is possible to prolong the tone and youth of the brain and how to charge the brains, we tell in the article.
How the brain works
The brain is like a jelly and is a fragile jelly. To avoid damage and injury, nature has taken care that it is reliably protected. First, a strong skull and, second, a soft membrane of connective tissue, which prevents the brain from hitting the skull walls. And finally, the cerebrospinal fluid inside the skull protects the brain from concussions and injuries.
What is the brain?It is about a pound and a half of "intelligent" mass in the human body, consisting of billions of neurons, nerve cell processes (axons), through which nerve impulses and signals are transmitted. In addition, each signal is generated and received by a certain part of the brain. To prevent its work from malfunctioning, the brain requires 20% of all the oxygen transported by the body's cells, fats and carbohydrates in sufficient quantities. Its lack leads to a compromised concentration of attention, memory, causes psychosis, depressive states and disables other systems and organs. The disorders are often seen in people who experiment with diet and dietary restrictions regularly. People who are hungry are also among those who suffer most from brain cells - irritation and aggression appear.
What are the functions of the brain?
The brain is everything to us! It depends on him if we raise a hand, scratch the back of the neck, 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 character we will have. 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, for speaking and writing skills, for our willingness and desire to achieve results.
- Temporal zones are responsible for speech perception, auditory and visual information, for 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 processing 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 3-5%, as stated. Even in a dream. The claim that the brain rests at night is not entirely true. The resting brain's work at night differs only in the activity of the regions. More precisely, the frequency of impulses in the cerebral cortex increases. But what is going on there? It is at the moment of sleep that the subconscious comes into play, experience, emotions and knowledge are ordered and distributed and, most importantly, the restoration of the body's systems and organs. He argues that drowsiness is a signal from the body that it needs a "checkup" and recovery.
How many resources the brain needs daily
Understanding how much data is contained in the brain and how many functions it performs, a reasonable question arises - what is needed to improve the quality of the brain, improve its capabilities and prolong the youth of its cells? And is there a pill 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. Thus, for daily self-care at rest (we will assume that 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 increased complexity mode, the brain will obtain the prescribed 750-1000 daily calorie intake. Now imagine that a person on a diet with a calorie intake of 1300-1500 will simply fall off the floor at the end of the day, even though they are in "light" mode. After all, to go to work every day, take care of the baby at home, do physical work, exercise the abdomen, cook, eat and digest, the body needs at least 2, 000 kcal, not to mention the cost of maintaining the brain +500kcal on average. You will definitely succeed in losing weight quickly. But it goes without saying that a person with a limited diet will successfully overcome the stressful situations and burdens of everyday life, and will achieve good results in the professional field or in sport.
Vitamins for the mind
In addition to energy costs, the brain needs vitamins and minerals to function normally. Your deficiency in the body can be created constantly. The reason may be regular physical activity, unhealthy eating, diet, stress, lack of sleep, changing seasons, disturbances in the functioning of some organs and systems (gastrointestinal tract or endocrine system), for which, again, the brain is responsible.
Do you remember this famous phrase - do all diseases come from nerves? This is absolutely true! And the leader of the entire nervous system is the brain! Therefore, by controlling the brain by feeding it regularly, you can not only pump the nervous system, but also protect yourself from many diseases.
Scientists agree that the average human life expectancy is greatly underestimated. In fact, under ideal conditions, healthy sleep, good nutrition, regular meditation practices (a tool to relieve stress, improve the nervous system, intellectual and spiritual growth), Homo Sapiens may well reach 150. Of course, Vitamin supplements alone will not make you live to 150 years, but they will surely be able to help you on your way to the coveted figure.
Vitamins for the mind
Intelligence, like the triceps, can be pumped. And to guarantee the youth and the 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 thereby increase oxygen access - one of the brain's main resources. 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 in the P group. Today, 5, 000 substances are known that are identical in properties to the vitamins in the P group. These include flavonoids, anthocyanidins, isoflavonoids - powerful antioxidants. Group P vitamins protect the brain and blood vessels, improving their tone. They slow down oxidative processes in the body, improve cell metabolism.
Vitamin C - the lack of which causes the degeneration of the body's connective tissue, decreasing or interrupting collagen production. Due to the lack of vitamin C, the balance of enzymes necessary for the functioning of organs and systems is impaired. The vitamin acts as a catalyst for metabolic processes. Protects the body and the 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 to increase and maintain mental alertness, especially in the face of seasonal stress and sadness.
Vitamin E is a valuable substance in the cell membrane of brain cells. Due to the vitamin, the body produces the biomarker DHA-PC, whose lack increases the chances of getting Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin E prevents significant losses of very important molecules for the brain and the death of neurons.
Multivitamins and drugs that improve brain activity and brain cell nutrition with proven efficacy: dry extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves, glycine.
How to improve brain function
As long as I think, I live. In fact, a reasonable man is able to move all of humanity with the force of thought and thanks to thought. But, there is also a downside to the currency. Thinking too much is very harmful. A wandering stream of thoughts can de-energize the brain into a "squeezed lemon" state. After all, every thought is discarded energy if it does not receive physical incorporation. And the constant energy gap in the head is not able to give you the strength to do something real and valuable instead of thoughts. That's how laziness, depression, internal aggression are born, the brain starts to function differently and certainly not for the better. Learn to stop the flow of faces, memories, dreams, dialogues within you, learn to relax and meditate. Special exercises to develop attention and concentration will help you do this.
Feed your brain. In all senses. Do not offend or deprive it, because it contains you and you - it. The game with a goal ends sooner or later in defeat. Give your brain a good intellectual dinner, have a nutritious breakfast, play educational games for lunch. And very soon he 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.
Encourage 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: whatever creativity you enjoy, 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 be useful to 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 done easily by special mobile apps that will say 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 every wish and fulfillment!
Sport is also able to pump the brain and, in addition, protects neurons and neural connections. Interestingly, but a couch addict who reads a book will remember less information than someone who usually does sports and reads "smart" books in his spare time.
In any unclear situation - sleep! This joke has the right to life, because in the dream the brain mends itself, repairs itself, heals not only itself, but the whole body as a whole. What do you usually do when you don't know how to get 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 lead to bad consequences.