Brain Myths

This week’s article summary is 9 Stubborn Brain Myths That Just Won't Die, Debunked by Science.

I have certainly fallen prey to some of these myths. 

In the late 90s I taught a summer course called “Writing from The Right Side of the Brain” (Myth 1)—I even used a textbook that included activities to help writers stimulate creativity and right-side brain stimulation.

In one of my English classes I used to play classical music during journal writing time (Myth 6) to stimulate creativity and deep thinking when all I probably did was distract most of my students.

I’ve lectured my own kids on Myths 3 and 4—even if they’re myths, they ideally scare kids into working harder and limiting alcohol intake.

I also confess to playing “brain games” like Lumosity (Myth 7) in the hopes of preventing early-stages of dementia.

Clearly in the past twenty to thirty years we have learned much more about the brain, including debunking the long-held myths below, yet the brain remains one of the most mysterious organs.

Also, here is a link to an article of short YouTube videos and various books on the brain.

Joe

--Myth 1: Left-Brained People Are Organized, Right-Brained People Are Creative

This myth began in the 1800s, where doctors discovered that injury to one side of the brain frequently caused loss of specific abilities. Brain scan experiments, however, show that the two halves of the brain are much more intricately linked than was originally thought, so problem-solving or creative tasks fire up activity in regions of both hemispheres of the brain, not just half. It is true that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa, so a right-brain injury can cause disability on the left side of the body.

Myth 2: Your Memory Is An Exact Account of What You See and Experience

Our memories don’t recall anything we see, hear, sell, taste, or touch with much detail at all. Instead, our brains record the seemingly necessary details and fill in the rest when it’s time to remember. The elaborate tapestry of our experience is not stored in memory--at least not in its entirety. Rather, it is compressed for storage by first being reduced to a few critical threads, such as a summary phrase (“Dinner was disappointing”) or a small set of key features (tough steak, corked wine, snotty waiter). Later, when we want to remember our experience, our brains quickly reweave the tapestry by fabricating--not by actually retrieving--the bulk of the information that we experience as a memory. This fabrication happens so quickly and effortlessly that we have the illusion that the entire thing was in our heads the entire time.

Myth 3: You Only Use 10% of Your Brain

If we only used 10% of our brains, what’s the point of the other 90%? Brain imaging studies using PET scans and functional MRI show that any mentally complex activity uses many areas of the brain, and over a day, just about all of the brain gets a workout. A study found that seniors who stay mentally active--through activities like reading the paper, going to the theater, or playing chess--are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease--even if they have the characteristic physical brain changes typical of dementia, suggesting that mental function has a “use it or lose it” component.

Myth 4: Alcohol Kills Brain Cells

If you were actively killing brain cells when consuming alcohol, you’d notice some permanent side effects pretty quickly. Although alcohol does have a significant effect on your brain and body, brain damage isn’t a given. You’ll have to drink yourself into a coma to go that far. The proof comes from a 1993 study that matched brain samples from both (deceased) alcoholics and non-alcoholics and found no difference in the density of brain cells.

Myth 5: The Internet Is Making Us Dumber

Claiming that the Internet is making us dumber could have the glimmer of truth under specific circumstances, but so far no research points to any significant dumbing down of the sort. The reason we find it easy to believe the Internet is making us dumber is because, in some ways, it’s making us less self-reliant. Our GPS devices navigate for us and we neglect to remember things because we have Google search. That doesn’t make us dumber, necessarily, but rather causes us to rely more on transactive memory. This type of memory is actually very useful because it allows us to, in essence, store more data in less space. Instead of remembering the contents of an entire article, we can simple remember the name or a few key words that we can entire into a search engine to pull it up. This comes with the obvious downside of lacking the full recall for actual information in your brain, which is why many people feel the Internet is turning us into idiots.

Myth 6: Listening to Classical Music Turns Babies into Geniuses

This myth began with a study conducted in the early 90s. Preliminary results suggested that a specific piece of music composed by Mozart boosted the spatial-temporal reasoning skills in young children. This made for big headlines and the creation of entire businesses surrounding the sale of Mozart-based products. The full study, however, eventually showed no significant result from classical music. It is unfortunate that the media and commercial ventures have taken the initial modest, unverified study and conjured up a pseudo-science which gave rise to a full-blown industry. This remains one of the more stubborn myths today.

Myth 7: Brain Games Make You Smarter

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could actually boost our brain power by playing a few games daily? Studies reveal there is no cognitive benefit to brain games. Look at any brain games you play, e.g., Lumosity, as specific practice. You’ll get better at that game(s), but don’t expect any boost in your general intelligence.

Myth 8: Your IQ Is Fixed and Stays the Same Throughout Your Life

Your IQ is a score that’s supposed to quantify your level of intelligence. What defines intelligence is still up for debate, so a high IQ isn’t necessarily an accurate measurement, but it has long been assumed that our scores don’t change—we’re stuck at the level of intelligence we were born with. That’s not true. Studies show changes in IQ after just a few weeks of effort. There’s a lot of research supporting this theory. Since IQ can change, these studies may not relate so much to people with higher scores but rather hardworking, studious individuals.

Myth 9: Your Brain Works Better Under Pressure

At some point in your life, you may have experienced a moment where you had an impossible deadline and somehow managed to finish your work—perhaps even exceptionally well. When the pressure is on, sometimes we find it in ourselves to pull through. Although a ticking clock can be an excellent motivator, as the looming consequences of missing a deadline can certainly get you working fast, it doesn’t result in better brain performance. In fact, pretty much any kind of stress makes it harder for your brain to function. As science gains greater insight into the consequences of stress on the brain, the picture that emerges is not a pretty one. A chronic overreaction to stress overloads the brain with powerful hormones that are intended only for short-term duty in emergency situations. Their cumulative effect damages and kills brain cells. In the end, if you believe you work better under pressure it’s simply because the end result seems to justify that belief. Stress isn’t enabling you to work better, but simply providing the motivation to get you to work in the first place.