Is there a way to use your entire brain?

Question

I know it's been said that humans only use a small part of their brain, so I'm wondering if it's possible to use most/all of the brain.

Answer 1

This is a common myth. It just so happens that you DO use your whole brain. Why do you think God would give you the whole thing (or why would you have evolved up to this point... depending on your world view)? The myth you are talking about stems from the fact that we only use around 10% of our brains for cognitive function (eg. thinking). The rest is dedicated to making our bodies work the way they are supposed to, and a very large percent is dedicated to breaking down and processing what you see visually! How amazing :)

Answer 2

There is a fascinating clip on You Tube by a brain researcher who happened to have a stroke (and eventually recovered from it.) She explains a lot about left/right side of brain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzE...

Answer 3

That's a very popular myth.  There are 2 different ideas that the myth could have come from.  

The first is that you don't use the entire mass of your brain for thinking.  There are lots of other cell types in there providing physical structure, cell support, and an immune system.  The cells just aren't capable of working as 'thinking' neurons, so trying to harness their power would be like trying to get more horsepower out of your car by reupholstering it or getting a new stereo.  They're all part of the same structure, but their functions are fundamentally different.

The other reason is that we don't use 100% of the brain at any one time.  Signals are shuffled around from one part to another in a very finely orchestrated process.  If you used 100% of your neurons at once, then there would be no more discernable signals.  

For another example, take this page.  There's a lot of empty space, between letters and between lines.  Imagine if you took out all the spaces.  Suddenlyitwouldbehardertodistinguishonew...  The carefully choreographed ballet would turn into a mob of people running around on the stage.  This can happen in humans, but the uncoordinated firing of neurons results in a seizure.

Finally, the brain has evolved to work the way it does.  Doing mental exercises can streamline some of its processes and keep you sharp... but to somehow drastically change the way it works or physically boost its abilities would probably cause more harm than good.  For my final analogy, think of the brain as a pocketwatch.  The gears and springs are very carefully machined and arranged.  You can keep it in good condition by adding a little oil and winding it up... but if you were to go in and start changing gears around and adding new ones, it probably wouldn't work anymore, at least not as a pocketwatch.

Answer 4

That's just a myth. The common "statistic" given is only 10% of the brain is used, but scans of activity in the brain show all parts are active in some way, and in different areas depending on what that person is doing. It's true the brain is more active when you're actually using it for tackling complex problems compared to just doing something passive, but every part of the brain is used in some capacity throughout a normal day, and every part has a known function. A century or so ago neuroscientists said that only 10% of the neurons in the brain are firing at any given time, but they didn't mean the other 90% NEVER fire, and in any case that figure has been overturned by modern scanning technology showing how activity levels change.

Another possible source of confusion is that there are two types of cell in the brain - neurons, the cells that do the active work in the brain, and neuroglia, the "support" cells that provide structure and insulation, supply nutrients and oxygen, and various other functions, which outnumber neurons by 10:1. While the structure of the brain is overwhelming made up of these neuroglia, they aren't "taking up space" that could be used for thinking - they are vital to the brain's function.