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Do humans use only 10% of their brains?

The frequently repeated claim that humans use only 10% of their brains is false. The exact origin of this myth is unknown, but misinterpretations of brain research are likely to blame. In experiments with animal brains during the 1800’s through the early 1900’s, Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens and Karl Lashley destroyed and/or removed as much as 90% of the brain tissue of their animal subjects. Nevertheless, these animals could still perform basic behavioral and physiological functions. Some who read these results made the incorrect assumption that this meant that animals were using only 10% of their brains. Subsequently, this interpretation was generalized to humans (Elias and Saucer, 2006). Furthermore, prominent psychologists and researchers, such as Albert Einstein, Margaret Mead, and William James, were also quoted as saying that humans are using only a small portion of their brain (Elias and Saucer, 2006), fueling the 10% myth.

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Due to advances in biopsychology and other related fields, we now have a greater understanding of the complexity of the brain. We may not be using our brains as efficiently as possible at all times, but we are using the entirety of our brain as each part contributes to our daily functioning. Studies of humans with brain damage have revealed that the effects of brain damage are correlated with where the damage is and how extensive it is. In other words, where damage occurs determines what functions are impacted and more damage has more of an effect. This reflects a key organizational principle of the brain: the localization of function. This principle means that specific psychological and behavioral processes are localized to specific regions and networks of the brain. For example, we now know that damage to an area of the brain known as the primary visual cortex, at the very back of your head in the occipital lobe, will result in blindness even though the rest of your visual system, including your eyes, is functioning normally. This syndrome is known as cortical blindness, to distinguish it from blindness that is caused by damage to the eyes. We now know that damage to a small area less than the size of a quarter at the very base of your brain results in disruption of feeding and regulation of body weight. Damage to another area of the brain located near your temples disrupts your ability to form new memories for facts and events, while leaving your ability to learn new motor tasks (such as skating or riding a bike) completely unaffected. Damage to another brain area causes face blindness, or prosopagnosia, a disorder in which the afflicted individual can still see normally except that they cannot recognize familiar faces, even the faces of close family members or even their own face in a photograph.

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