Why Do We Only Use 10 Percent Of Our Brain

Kayla Janko

Professor Brown

Psychology P101

October 18, 2015

“We Only Use 10% of Our Brain”

The expression “we only use ten percent of our brain” is a commonly known myth that has been told for years, but is it even true? Personally, I believe that it is just a myth because I have taken many psychology classes throughout my schooling and I have learned that each area of the brain has different functions to keep humans properly working. There are four different lobes within the brain, each of them controlling important roles. Some of those roles would include vision, hearing, movement, perception, sensation, etc. There is also more vital roles of the brain that keep continually pumping our blood, monitoring our heart rate, and keep us breathing all at once which would allow the brain to actively use more than 10%. I don’t think it would be possible to only use ten percent of our brain when the brain has so much activity happening twenty-four seven. Therefore, my intuitive reaction towards this idea would be a myth.

Now that brain scans are widely used and more accurate than before, they show that humans regularly use all of the brain. Since the brain is remarkably adaptable, some areas can take over, or compensate for other areas and that could be a possibility of why people started to believe not all of the brain is used. Sometimes brain scans don’t always give precise answers on the percentage of brain usage, but most still show that more than one area of the brain is always functioning. This article supports that the expression is a