A lot of people mention how we use only 10% of our brain. Usually
these people are trying to sell something, like a course or miracle
drug.

"Just think what you could do if you could tap into the other 90%!"
they say.

Some say that it was Einstein who said it.

Well, I find it hard to believe that after so many years of evolution,
we only manage to use 10%.

Did Einstein really say this?

Is there any evidence that this figure is accurate? And I mean
scientific evidence, not the latest self-help guru.

What is the accepted wisdom among psychologists, neurologists, and
other brain experts?

Hi, markabe. It's been a long time since I've had anything meaningful
to say in answer to one of your interesting questions. This one jumped
out at me because I was talking about the "we only use 10% of our
brain" quote recently with a friend.

Here's an excellent article on this (grey) matter, from the archives
of one of my favorite reference sources on the Web, StraightDope.com:

StraightDope.com
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_028.html

And another good debunking of the ten percent myth, from Snopes.com,
one of the best sources of debunkage on the 'Net:

Snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm 

Here's one more:

Ask.Yahoo.com
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20011025.html

The friend with whom I recently discussed this is a university
professor with a PhD in Neuropsychiatry. He said that his students
often come to him with the "we only use 10% of our brain" theory, and
in the case of some of the students, he says that 10% may be an
overestimate. ;-)

In case you would like to explore the subject further, this is the
combination of search terms that brought me the best results:

Google Web Search: "only use 10%" + "brain"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22only+use+10%25%22+brain

Thanks for asking a question that forced me to use at least 11% of my
brain.

Best wishes,
pinkfreud

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Request for Answer Clarification by markabe-ga on 07 Apr 2003 02:29 PDT

panditha raised an interesting question:     
"How exactly has anyone quantified the usage as 10%? Does this 10%
indicate by mass, by activity time or by some esoteric concept of
'using' the brain?"

Exactly what did the figure 10% refer to?

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 07 Apr 2003 14:40 PDT

markabe,

I share the belief of the experts at Straight Dope, Snopes, and Ask
Yahoo (linked above) that the statement about humans using only 10% of
their brains is fictitious. It's one of those items of "folk wisdom"
which is passed around endlessly until it is taken to be true simply
because we have heard it so often. From this viewpoint, the figure of
10% is without referent, and is essentially meaningless, since it has
no verifiable basis in any scientific study that I've been able to
locate. Whether the 10% refers to mass, to activity, or to something
else is moot, since the statement itself is on a par with
unscientific, untrue, but frequently quoted trivia such as "A duck's
quack does not echo, and no one knows why."

~pinkfreud

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 07 Apr 2003 22:15 PDT

Here's are some more online discussions of the "we only use 10% of our brain" myth:

The New England Skeptical Society
http://www.theness.com/articles/brain-nejs0201.html

Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal 
http://www.csicop.org/si/9903/ten-percent-myth.html

Brain Connection
http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/brain-myth

University of Washington
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 07 Apr 2003 22:41 PDT

Sorry about the typo of "Here's are" in my response, above. Apparently
I was using a whole lot less of my brain than I ought to use. ;-)

~pinkfreud

Brilliant as always, pinkfreud.

I attended a day-long seminar recently on the usage of the brain.

If we use 10% of the brain, we would be like Einstein. A normal human
uses only 4-5 % of his brain. If a person is right-handed, he uses his
left part of the brain more, and vice-versa.

Basically, in order to use more of the "other" side of our brain, we
have to do analytical things, like solve puzzles, play chess....or if
you think thats tough, try reading the newspaper upside down. Every
percent extra used, makes you that much more smarter.

Aditya,

Was this a scientifically-oriented seminar which taught that a human
uses 4% to 5% of his brain? If so, please produce credible sources for
this information, and I will withdraw my answer to markabe's question.

I have seen many images of the brain taken with PET scans, which
depict brain activity in a spectrum of colors. Never have I seen such
an image in which 95% of the scan was black.

People use 100% of their brains. Nature is too conservative to have
indulged in a brain in which 90% just sits around consuming nutrients
and giving nothing productive in return. It's all doing something,
even if every region's function isn't yet understood by the brain's
users. The 10% myth is just something that gets propelled by people
without the implications usually being questioned.

-Mark Martin

Another site debunking the 10% myth is here:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

The above site makes a good point in the following statement:
"Does this mean that you would be just fine if 90% of your brain was
removed?"
Obviously, I don't think people are lining up to do anything of the
sort.

You also have to consider that not all of the brain is being used for
thought. A good portion is dedicated to maintaining your balance;
processing sights, sounds, smells, and touch; and many other functions
that essentially just keep you alive and upright.

From that perspective, I would not disagree that maybe only 10-20% of
the brain (by mass) is used exclusively for conscious thought alone.
But that doesn't mean that there is 80-90% of "untapped" or "unused"
brain space available.

-Jason

How exactly has anyone quantified the usage as 10% ? Does this 10%
indicate by mass, by activity time or by some esoteric concept of
'using' the brain ? Somehow I am always dubious whenever there are
attempts at quantifying such vague things like IQ etc.

Thanks for the five stars and the tip!

~Pink