There have been many scientists who talk about the human being using a part of their brain. Albert Einstein was one of the people who have been quoted for it but no record has been found to prove that. In the year 1908, William James, an American philosopher, affirmed that, as human beings, we take advantage of a part of our mental and physical resources, without being specific about a certain percentage. Between the years 1920 and late 1930, an experiment that removed a large part of the cerebral cortex of rats have found that these animals were able to live their life as normal as when they had their brains intact. Therefore, we can say that the “ten percent of the brain” theory comes from different statements and works rather than just one whole study. Even with that proven, people still talk about this theory and live as if it was proven. So is it really true that humans only use part or just 10 percent of their brains?

Just like we have mentioned now, this is a myth! Neurologists and scientists affirm that even though this theory is very common among people, it is not true. Here are the reasons why (according to neurologists and brain specialists): 1- Effectuating imaging scans on the brain while doing routine tasks (even the ones that do not require much brain effort) such as walking and talking, shows that many regions of the brain are involved and activated. 2- People who suffered from any kind of brain damage (such as the ones caused by an accident or a stroke) have lost one of their abilities, such as movement in a specific part of their bodies, or even memory loss. Therefore, if the myth was true, these people wouldn’t have been affected unless more than 90% of their brain was impacted. 3- If human beings used a small mass of their brains, then this organ wouldn’t be so big. 4- If humans used only 10% of their brains, then the brain wouldn’t consume almost 20% of the body’s energy (a huge portion of energy given the size of 10% of the brain) 5- Brain mapping research has not yet found a region of the brain that has no function and is completely inactive. Regrettably, the 10 percent myth is still widespread and persistent. It has been recurrent in popular cultures and used in the media, such as advertisements and films (one of the examples is the 2014 film Lucy featuring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman). So the next time you hear someone talking about the 10 percent of the brain myth, make sure you correct their information with everything you have learned from this article!