10 Astounding Facts About the Human Brain

Here are ten remarkable facts about our most complex organ.

A cross-section of the human brain

1. The human brain is so sophisticated it takes nearly 20 years to mature

2.In the womb, humans grow 8,000 new brain cells every second 

3.By the time humans are born they have all the brain cells they will ever need 

4.The human brain is the “most sophisticated thing” in the known universe 

5.New-born babies can recognise their mother’s face after just a few hours 

6.Babies can see in the womb but only in black and white. However their eyes are sensitive enough to detect the dim light passing through their mother’s belly 

7.Humans blink up to 20 times every minute. Each blink lasts around half a second. But add them together, and humans are living in the dark for more than an hour every day 

8.Each brain cell will make, on average, 10,000 connections with other brain cells 

9.Learning to balance and co-ordinate your body is so complex the area of the brain devoted to this task contains as many cells as the rest of the brain put together 

10.Young divers in Thailand have taught their eyes to focus underwater by 

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