Re: 7 myths about the work of the brain
The original post ends with almost a challenge:
Indeed, the sperm whale's brain is larger than the human brain. In addition, the average sperm whale is obviously more stupid than the average person. But this question cannot be considered so simple.
If we take the average values ​​of brain mass and body mass for mammals and put them on a logarithmic scale, they will remarkably lie on a straight line with a factor of 2/3:
')
Thus, to assess the "intelligence" of an animal, a special coefficient suggests itself - the encephalization coefficient.
m is the brain mass, M is the body mass
The higher the coefficient, the higher the deviation from the average straight line for this species of animals and the more intelligent this species is.
And sperm whales with encephalization do not shine at all - their coefficient is only ~ 0.5 against ~ 7.5 in humans, ~ 2 in orangutans and ~ 1.5 in African elephants.
If I were asked to explain this to a seven-year-old child, I would say this: a fixed brain mass is needed for normal work of a fixed body mass, and all that is higher goes to pure intellect. The larger the animal, the more neurons it needs to maintain the most basic functions. And that is why we are smarter than dolphins, even if dolphins are about the same brain size.
Thus, the size of the brain (even if it is not alone) is very important.
Sources:
Yes, I didn’t have to go beyond Wikipedia.
So many years of life, on average, lose 100,000 people due to alcohol use ( original ).
Because of the night it can be worrying and not worth it, but large doses of alcohol multiplied by a long time will give the risk of serious and irreversible changes in the brain. In addition, alcohol slows the growth of new brain cells - in my opinion not much better than killing old ones. The illusion of "nothing will happen to your brain, science has proven" the video gives absolutely for nothing.
A source:
National Alcohol Alert and Alcohol Abuse
Apparently, this is a retelling of an article from Nature .
It says, in particular, that this number is no more than a regular estimate and expresses only a rough estimate of this number. A gradual refinement of the values ​​of quantities in science is a completely normal process, and an estimate of 100 billion is more than enough for not working in this area person
The news is, of course, wonderful and interesting - but to submit it as exposing a myth is a very strong search.
I admit honestly: I am incompetent in relevant matters, therefore I will not comment on drugs, feelings, hemispheres and brain use. I just pointed out the most obvious mistakes(and probably made some of my own) . Perhaps people who really understand the issue will fill this gap. In comments to the original article JadeSpirit spoke, I really hope for an informative article from him.
In general (according to my subjective assessment), the video is a mixture of half-truths, super-simplification and incorrect retelling of publications. With all due respect to IlyaAbilov (be sure to rate the project skepdic.ru ) - it was not worth the translation work.
Those wishing to refute theses in the video, I recommend immediately to look for links to peer-reviewed journals. At least I found confirmations of all theses in peer-reviewed journals, did not add to motivate people to use Google.
First question: Does brain size matter?
Indeed, the sperm whale's brain is larger than the human brain. In addition, the average sperm whale is obviously more stupid than the average person. But this question cannot be considered so simple.
If we take the average values ​​of brain mass and body mass for mammals and put them on a logarithmic scale, they will remarkably lie on a straight line with a factor of 2/3:
')
Thus, to assess the "intelligence" of an animal, a special coefficient suggests itself - the encephalization coefficient.
m is the brain mass, M is the body mass
The higher the coefficient, the higher the deviation from the average straight line for this species of animals and the more intelligent this species is.
And sperm whales with encephalization do not shine at all - their coefficient is only ~ 0.5 against ~ 7.5 in humans, ~ 2 in orangutans and ~ 1.5 in African elephants.
If I were asked to explain this to a seven-year-old child, I would say this: a fixed brain mass is needed for normal work of a fixed body mass, and all that is higher goes to pure intellect. The larger the animal, the more neurons it needs to maintain the most basic functions. And that is why we are smarter than dolphins, even if dolphins are about the same brain size.
Thus, the size of the brain (even if it is not alone) is very important.
Sources:
Yes, I didn’t have to go beyond Wikipedia.
Second question: Was it a fun night? Do not worry.
So many years of life, on average, lose 100,000 people due to alcohol use ( original ).
Because of the night it can be worrying and not worth it, but large doses of alcohol multiplied by a long time will give the risk of serious and irreversible changes in the brain. In addition, alcohol slows the growth of new brain cells - in my opinion not much better than killing old ones. The illusion of "nothing will happen to your brain, science has proven" the video gives absolutely for nothing.
A source:
National Alcohol Alert and Alcohol Abuse
Fourth question: 100 billion brain cells
Apparently, this is a retelling of an article from Nature .
It says, in particular, that this number is no more than a regular estimate and expresses only a rough estimate of this number. A gradual refinement of the values ​​of quantities in science is a completely normal process, and an estimate of 100 billion is more than enough for not working in this area person
The news is, of course, wonderful and interesting - but to submit it as exposing a myth is a very strong search.
From the author
I admit honestly: I am incompetent in relevant matters, therefore I will not comment on drugs, feelings, hemispheres and brain use. I just pointed out the most obvious mistakes
In general (according to my subjective assessment), the video is a mixture of half-truths, super-simplification and incorrect retelling of publications. With all due respect to IlyaAbilov (be sure to rate the project skepdic.ru ) - it was not worth the translation work.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/362041/
All Articles