This organ that allows us to be conscious of ourselves and others, to speak, to reflect, to juggle with symbols, to create, or to learn it never ceases to amaze us. It is our mainframe that gives us our human character, this powerful machine that no artificial intelligence can yet surpass. Here are some figures that will allow you to measure it.
- The brain weighs on average 2% of our body weight but consumes 20% of our total energy.
- It consists of 85 to 100 billion neurons, as many as the stars in our galaxy.
- It contains 300 ml of liquid: 150 ml of blood and 150 ml of cerebrospinal liquid, which is 99% water.
- If it were “unfolded”, it would cover an area of 1 to 2 square meters.
- Every second, more than 100,000 chemical reactions occur.
- Each neuron forms 1,000 to 10,000 synapses or contacts with other neurons.
- The information is transmitted at 120 meters per second, or more than 400 km/h.
- Put end to end, the insulating layer of its nerve fibers would create a segment of 150,000 to 180,000 km long, equivalent to traveling four times around the Earth.
- During gestation, the fetal brain can produce up to 250,000 neurons per minute.
