Brain Myths Exposed

BRAIN MYTHS EXPOSED™ COPYRIGHT © 2005. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY GENIUSINTELLIGENCE®

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BRAIN MYTHS

EXPOSED™

An e-book companion compiled by an

author at GeniusIntelligence®


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CONTENTS

The Microstructure of the Human Brain – pages 4-5

Brain Myths – pages 6-10


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THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF THE

HUMAN BRAIN

There’s absolutely no doubting that our brain is the seat of our entire being.

Its influence extends and actually creates our

1/ intelligence in its various forms

2/ personality and its various traits

3/ mind in its various forms

4/ consciousness, sub-consciousness and un-consciousness

5/ involuntary actions and behaviour

6/ voluntary actions and behaviour

Your brain contains brain cells, neurons, dendrites, synapses, axons,

neurotransmitters as well as other things. I will explain the 3 main structures

below, from which the general microstructure of the brain will become clear.

Brain Cells

These cells are also called neurons and nerve cells. However that doesn’t

mean all nerve cells are brain cells because you have nerve cells all over

your body.

The Neuron

This a special type of nerve found uniquely in the brain. In terms of

structure, it has a small roundish body and nucleus. From the body, there are

branches termed dendrites and a nerve fiber termed an axon.

The dendrites have receptors that receive signals from other neurons.

If information is received, it would travel along the dendrites to the cell body

where it is processed, and then transmitted to other neurons via the axon.

In other words, dendrites act as the receiving point of the neuron, and axons

the transmission point, with the cell body as the processor in between.

The axons transmit messages because they possess chemicals termed

neurotransmitters.


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It therefore makes sense to say that the better your connections (through

synapses and dendrites) the greater will be your mental functioning.

Neurotransmitters

These neurotransmitters travel along gaps and junctions named synapses to

other receptors on other neurons. Each neuron can communicate with

billions of other neurons in seconds via the synapses and neurotransmitters.

The number of synapses in the brain is estimated to be around 100 billion.

Neurotransmitters are heavily influenced by the food you eat. Also, since

they are chemicals, your body has to possess sufficient enzymes and

resources to create the building blocks for these chemicals to be produced.

For example, the chemical choline is required to make acetylcholine in the

brain which is important for your memory.

Likewise, the amino acid tryptophan is required for the good-mood

messenger serotonin.

In the next section of brain myths, we will discuss these 3 structures of the

brain in even more detail.


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BRAIN MYTHS Myth 1: It is untrue to say that mental ability cannot grow and change after

adolescence

You might think along with millions of others that you are born with a

genetically pre-determined brain in terms of

A. Size

B. Capability

C. Function

This is not true. The brain is an organ which is actually constantly evolving

and changing all the time, physically, in function, size and capability. This is

through the evolving relationship between the three terms above and your

behaviour, the environment around you (affecting the body which includes

the brain) and your nutritional practices (including drugs, hormones

treatments etc).

Moreover, your brain cells can grow new dendrites and synapses at any age.

This is crucial since it’s the complexity of the connections in the brain that

determines mental ability. It’s not the number of brain cells that matters but

the complexity of the brain cells that you have.

The best way to do build your mental capacity is to follow the steps in “The

Complete Guide to Genius”. Remember, you will either have to use your

brain or lose it and stimulating the brain will not only enhance, but also build

brand new brain cells.

Myth 2: It is untrue to say that millions of brain cells are lost every day in

the brain, and so mental decline occurs

Firstly, millions of brain cells are not lost everyday. This is a complete myth

with absolute no bearing in modern scientific literature.

Secondly, any loss is minimal and only occurs in selective and non-critical

areas of the brain (as opposed to critical ones such as those areas involved in

thinking and memory).


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Third, it is the complexity of brain cells through their dendrites and synapses

in critical areas of the brain which determine mental ability and so any loss

in brain cells in other non-critical areas of the brain have no significance for

mental ability. Your brain loses approximately 0.2% of its mass every year.

Myth 3: It is untrue to say that mental decline starts in your twenties and

continues throughout life

Though you will lose some brain cells as you get older, this doesn’t mean

your mental ability drops, since it’s the complexity of connections that

determines ability as highlighted above. Any mental decline that is

experienced in the twenties and beyond is due to inappropriate diet,

behaviour or disease, which will obviously create more significant mental

decline through time.

Myth 4: It is untrue to say that once you lose your brain cells, you cannot get

them back

The brain can regenerate itself so it is entirely possible to get your brain cells

back even when damage has been caused by poor diet, behaviour and

disease.

Moreover, if your neurons are starved of oxygen and energy (in glucose

form), they do not die. They simply cease to function due to insufficient

resources. Thus brain cells do not always die when you think they have and

can actually be rejuvenated given the right circumstances.

Myth 5: It is untrue to say that older people (ie. age 40+) cannot be as

mentally capable as younger people.

Since the brain can spurt new neurons and synapses at any age, as long as

you take care of your brain through providing adequate nutrition and

behaviour, the integrity of mental ability will remain. Any loss in mental

ability through age is due to inappropriate nutrition and behaviour or disease

(as we’ve said already).

However, the speed of processing and retrieving information is slower in

older people, and short term memory is not as sharp. (This is because of the

creation of small errors in DNA replication, and attacks on other aspects of


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our cells from free radical activity) Even then, in everything else, the mental

capability is the same as younger people. This again, is because the vast

complexity of neurons and synapses in the critical regions of the brain

determine mental ability.

Myth 6: It is untrue to say that Genes Determine Mental Aging

Only 30% of any of our mental characteristics are genetically based. The

other 70% is based on environment, behaviour, diet and disease. In terms of

mental aging, any mental loss through genes is through the unavoidable

aging caused by errors in DNA replication through time. Yet this is not as

bad as it sounds as it will only result in slower brain processing speeds in

older people (ages 40+) if they have kept mentally active throughout their

life.

If your mental ability has dropped in old age and not just slowed down as

should be the case under natural mental aging, then this is due to

inappropriate diet, nutrition or disease (genetic or otherwise).

Myth 7: It is untrue to say that hormones do not affect the brain

The sex hormone oestrogen (or estrogen), which is more abundant in

females than males, is a preserver of memory in older woman. It is thus

important for woman to take oestrogen supplements if there ovaries have

been removed (since oestrogen is produced there). The effects of oestrogen

extend to the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine where it

stimulates dendrite and synapse growth, and acts as an antioxidant.

On the other hand, a hormone such as cortisol, which is released under

stress, is bad for the brain. Long term stress is highly inappropriate since the

resultant adrenaline and toxic chemical release will flood the brain.

Ultimately, it will result in significant memory loss.

Other hormones also have other affects. For example, the hormone

testosterone affects the mental mood and aggressiveness of men in various

ways.


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Myth 8: It is untrue to say that degenerative brain disorders are unavoidable

The more you use your brain, the more it will be kept intact, evolve, and

spurt new neurones, dendrites and synapses. If you do not use it, you will

begin to lose vital neurones in critical areas of the brain. In turn, potential

diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s and dementia can

strike.

By making sure you follow the correct nutritional and behavioural path, the

integrity of your brain will be saved from these very harmful diseases.

Myth 9: It is untrue to say that exercise does not build new neurons

See The Dualist Mind Expansion technique in “The Complete Guide to

Genius™” by GeniusIntelligence® for more information. But in-depth,

exercising your body induces the brain to produce new dendrites, thus

expanding communication capacities.

Moreover, this growth occurs in critical areas of the brain such as those

controlling memory, reasoning, learning and concentration.

Blood flow to the brain increases and proteins are assimilated into the brain

to protect against free radicals. By exercise, we mean natural running and

not other dissimilar sports such as weight training.

Myth 10: It is untrue to say that a pregnant woman cannot affect the

intelligence of her offspring beyond genes

A woman can affect the intelligence of her child, for example, by consuming

sufficient quantities of choline whilst she is pregnant. See “The Complete

Guide To Genius™” by GeniusIntelligence® for more information. This

will provide the child with a very good memory throughout life as the brain

will be “wired” and structured effectively for this.

Also, other things like drug and alcohol abuse, as well as smoking, will have

a detrimental affect on the intelligence of the child.


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Myth 11: It is untrue to say that consuming excessive calories in your diet

will provide excessive resources for use by your brain

Instead, consuming excessive calories accelerates brain deterioration, and

reduces life expectancy. This is because the metabolizing of food (calories)

generates free radicals and so the greater the food consumed, the greater the

free radical production. Such free radicals will damage cells which includes

neurons.

On the other hand, under-eating increases the production of anti-oxidant

defences (or defenses) against free radicals which would have otherwise

destroyed your neurons.

Under-eating will also increase your life expectancy by several years.

Well, that’s all for just now! I hope you now understand that many of the

myths about the brain are exactly that; myths! Use the information here in

conjunction with “The Complete Guide to Genius™”, for an even greater

synergetic effect!

Take care and please contact us if you have any further questions;

[email protected]

Brain Myths Exposed

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