李雷与韩梅梅英语阅读：人类真的只使用了不到百分之十大脑潜力？
Youmayhaveheardthathumansonlyuse10percentoftheirbrainpower,andthatifyoucouldunlocktherestofyourbrainpower,youcoulddosomuchmore.Youcouldbecomeasupergenius,oracquirepsychicpowerslikemindreadingandtelekinesis.However,thereisapowerfulbodyofevidencedebunkingthe10percentmyth.Scientistshaveconsistentlyshownthathumansusetheirentirebrainthroughouteachday.
Neuropsychologystudieshowtheanatomyofthebrainaffectssomeone’sbehavior,emotion,andcognition.Overtheyears,brainscientistshaveshownthatdifferentpartsofthebrainareresponsibleforspecificfunctions,whetherit’srecognizingcolorsorproblemsolving.Contrarytothe10percentmyth,scientistshaveproventhateverypartofthebrainisintegralforourdailyfunctioning,thankstobrainimagingtechniqueslikepositronemissiontomographyandfunctionalmagneticresonanceimaging.
Researchhasyettofindabrainareathatiscompletelyinactive.Evenstudiesthatmeasureactivityatthelevelofsingleneuronshavenotrevealedanyinactiveareasofthebrain.Manybrainimagingstudiesthatmeasurebrainactivitywhenapersonisdoingaspecifictaskshowhowdifferentpartsofthebrainworktogether.Forexample,whileyouarereadingthistextonyoursmartphone,somepartsofyourbrain,includingthoseresponsibleforvision,readingcomprehension,andholdingyourphone,willbemoreactive.
However,somebrainimagesunintentionallysupportthe10percentmyth,becausetheyoftenshowsmallbrightsplotchesonanotherwisegraybrain.Thismayimplythatonlythebrightspotshavebrainactivity,butthatisn’tthecase.Rather,coloredsplotchesrepresentbrainareasthataremoreactivewhensomeone’sdoingataskcomparedtowhenthey’renot.Thegrayspotsarestillactive,justtoalesserdegree.
Amoredirectcountertothe10percentmythliesinindividualswhohavesufferedbraindamage–throughastroke,headtrauma,orcarbonmonoxidepoisoning–andwhattheycannolongerdoasaresultofthatdamage,orcanstilldojustaswell.Ifthe10percentmythweretrue,damagetoperhaps90percentofthebrainwouldn’taffectdailyfunctioning.
Yetstudiesshowthatdamagingevenaverysmallpartofthebrainmayhavedevastatingconsequences.Forexample,damagetoBroca’sareahindersproperformationofwordsandfluentspeech,thoughgenerallanguagecomprehensionremainsintact.Inonehighlypublicizedcase,aFloridawomanpermanentlylosther“capacityforthoughts,perceptions,memories,andemotionsthataretheveryessenceofbeinghuman”whenalackofoxygendestroyedhalfofhercerebrum,whichmakesupabout85percentofthebrain.
EvolutionaryArguments
Anotherlineofevidenceagainstthe10percentmythcomesfromevolution.Theadultbrainonlyconstitutes2percentofbodymass,yetitconsumesover20percentofthebody’senergy.Incomparison,theadultbrainsofmanyvertebratespecies–includingsomefish,reptiles,birds,andmammals–consume2to8percentoftheirbody’senergy.Thebrainhasbeenshapedbymillionsofyearsofnaturalselection,whichpassesdownfavorabletraitstoincreaselikelihoodofsurvival.Itisunlikelythatthebodywoulddedicatesomuchofitsenergytokeepanentirebrainfunctioningifitonlyuses10percentofthebrain.
TheOriginoftheMyth
Themainallureofthe10percentmythistheideathatyoucoulddosomuchmoreifonlyyoucouldunlocktherestofyourbrain.Evenwithampleevidencesuggestingthecontrary,whydomanypeoplestillbelievethathumansonlyuse10percentoftheirbrains?It’sunclearhowthemythspreadinthefirstplace,butithasbeenpopularizedbyself-helpbooks,andmayevenalsobegroundedinolder,flawed,neurosciencestudies.
Themythcouldbealignedwithmessagesespousedbyself-improvementbooks,whichshowyouwaystodobetterandliveuptoyour"potential."Forexample,theprefacetothenotorious"HowtoWinFriendsandInfluencePeople"saysthattheaverageperson“developsonly10percentofhislatentmentalability.”Thisstatement,whichistracedbacktopsychologistWilliamJames,referstoaperson’spotentialtoachievemoreratherthanhowmuchbrainmattertheyused.OthershaveevensaidthatEinsteinexplainedhisbrillianceusingthe10percentmyth,thoughtheseclaimsremainunfounded.
【李雷与韩梅梅英语阅读：人类真的只使用了不到百分之十大脑潜力？】Anotherpossiblesourceofthemythliesin“silent”brainareasfromolderneuroscienceresearch.Inthe1930s,forinstance,neurosurgeonWilderPenfieldhookedelectrodestotheexposedbrainsofhisepilepsypatientswhileoperatingonthem.Henoticedthatparticularbrainareastriggeredtheexperiencevarioussensations,butwhileothersseemedtocausenoreaction.Still,astechnologyevolved,researchersfoundthatthese“silent”brainareas,whichincludedtheprefrontallobes,hadmajorfunctionsafterall.
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