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Nervous system

Last Updated on Nov 27, 2023
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Brain of the Newborn

  • A newborn baby's brain doubles in size during the course of its first year (1 Trusted Source
    Imaging structural and functional brain development in early childhood

    Go to source
    ).

Human Brain

  • The left side of the human brain controls the right side of the body, and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body (2 Trusted Source
    Physiology, Brain

    Go to source
    ).
  • The Human brain stops growing by 18 years of age (3 Trusted Source
    The Teen Brain: 7 Things to Know

    Go to source
    ).
  • Only 4% of the brain's cells work while the remaining cells are kept in reserve.
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Nerve Cells

  • A newborn baby loses about half of their nerve cells before they are born.
  • The human brain contains more nerve cells than the stars in the Milky Way (4 Trusted Source
    Grand Challenge: How Does the Human Brain Work and Produce Mental Activity?

    Go to source
    ).
  • Sixty percent of the human body's nerves end in the forehead and the hands.

Weight of the Brain

  • As we get older, male brain weight decreases by 2.7 grams per year, whereas female brain weight decreases by 2.2 grams per year (5 Trusted Source
    Ageing and the brain

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    ).
  • An average adult male brain weighs about 1336 grams (6 Trusted Source
    Normal weight of the brain in adults in relation to age, sex, body height and weight

    Go to source
    ).
  • An average adult female brain weight is around 1200 grams.
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Neurons

  • There are about 69 million neurons in the human spinal cord (7 Trusted Source
    The Cellular Composition and Glia-Neuron Ratio in the Spinal Cord of a Human and a Non-Human Primate: Comparison with other Species and Brain Regions

    Go to source
    ).
  • The human brain comprises around 100 billion neurons (8 Trusted Source
    Understanding neurogenesis in the adult human brain

    Go to source
    ).
Know Your Nervous System

Size of the Brain

  • The total surface area of the human brain is about 1820 cm2 (9 Trusted Source
    Physical biology of human brain development

    Go to source
    ).
  • The human brain develops to 90% of its adult size by the age of 6 (10 Trusted Source
    The Basics of Brain Development

    Go to source
    ).

Length of the Brain

  • The average length of the human brain is about 167 mm and its average height is 93 mm.

Body Weight and Brain

  • The brain makes up only 2% of our body weight, but it utilizes 20% of our body's energy, i.e., it uses 20% of one's blood and oxygen (2 Trusted Source
    Physiology, Brain

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    ).

Brain Signals

  • The brain continues to send out electric wave signals until approximately 37 hours after death (11 Trusted Source
    Electroencephalographic activity after brain death

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    ).

Chemical Reactions

  • On average, 100, 000 to 1000, 000 chemical reactions take place in our brain.

Speed of Brain Communication

  • The nervous system transmits messages to the brain at a speed of 180 miles per hour.

Size of the Spinal Cord

  • The length of the spinal cord is around 45 cm in men and 43 cm in women, and its diameter is the same as that of the index finger (12 Trusted Source
    Anatomy, Back, Spinal Cord

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    ).

Brain development

  • Reading aloud to children helps stimulate brain development (13 Trusted Source
    Reading Aloud and Child Development: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in Brazil

    Go to source
    ).

Self-recognition

  • The right side of the human brain is responsible for self-recognition (14 Trusted Source
    Self-recognition, theory-of-mind, and self-awareness: what side are you on?

    Go to source
    ).

Gender Differences in the Brain

  • Men listen with the left side of the brain, while women use both sides of the brain.
  • Women have more white matter and fewer grey matter areas than men (15 Trusted Source
    The neuroanatomy of general intelligence: sex matters

    Go to source
    ).

Connections in the Brain

  • It is estimated that there are over 1,000,000,000,000,000 connections in the human brain (16 Trusted Source
    The Cellular and Molecular Landscapes of the Developing Human Central Nervous System

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    ).

References:

  1. Imaging structural and functional brain development in early childhood - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5987539/ )
  2. Physiology, Brain - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551718/ )
  3. The Teen Brain: 7 Things to Know - (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-7-things-to-know)
  4. Grand Challenge: How Does the Human Brain Work and Produce Mental Activity? - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50989/)
  5. Ageing and the brain - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2596698/)
  6. Normal weight of the brain in adults in relation to age, sex, body height and weight - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8072950/)
  7. The Cellular Composition and Glia-Neuron Ratio in the Spinal Cord of a Human and a Non-Human Primate: Comparison with other Species and Brain Regions - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845477/ )
  8. Understanding neurogenesis in the adult human brain - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4689008/)
  9. Physical biology of human brain development - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4495345/)
  10. The Basics of Brain Development - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2989000/)
  11. Electroencephalographic activity after brain death - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3619714/ )
  12. Anatomy, Back, Spinal Cord - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537004/)
  13. Reading Aloud and Child Development: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in Brazil - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5744270/ )
  14. Self-recognition, theory-of-mind, and self-awareness: what side are you on? - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21049317/)
  15. The neuroanatomy of general intelligence: sex matters - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15734366/)
  16. The Cellular and Molecular Landscapes of the Developing Human Central Nervous System - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4959909/)
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