hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about how powerful your
brain really is now let's begin the human brain is often compared to an extremely
advanced computer for skills like storage and information processing the two are very similar
in fact in many complicated tasks the human brain significantly outperforms the most sophisticated
supercomputers in the world but that isn't to say brains and computers are exactly alike No if that
were true fully functioning a I would already exist so besides the obvious what's the biggest
difference between a brain and a computer what distinguishes these two immensely complicated
systems to answer this question let's focus on the construction of each system we know very
well where a computer's power comes from there are plenty of people who can build these machines from
scratch the brain on the other hand is much more intricate and mysterious not only does your brain
surpass the specs of most supercomputers it's capable of understanding things that computers
haven't even come close to yeah computers are quick and efficient at simple tasks but take
something more complicated like facial recognition humans excel at identifying other humans if you
know someone chances are you can pick out their face in all kinds of different situations they
could be wearing makeup aged 20 years or turn their skin blue yeah you'd still know exactly
who they are a computer would struggle to make those connections it could tell you the names
of every person in your entire city but it would just as easily get confused by a fake mustache so
why is it that the human brain is capable of so much more like I said the difference is in the
details to get a better understanding let's take a closer look at the building blocks of the human
brain I'm talking about the hundred billion nerve cells or neurons that influence every thought you
have and every decision that you make neurons are responsible for transmitting electrochemical
signals throughout the brain to do this they form intricate webs of neural connections passing
signals from one neuron to the next every neuron can make thousands of these connections that
means that each signal can potentially trigger a chain reaction that covers the entire brain in the
blink of an eye the actual biology of a neural connection is pretty complicated but to really
understand why your brain is so powerful you should know how these building blocks function
so here's a basic overview every neuron is made up of three important parts the first is the soma
this is the main body of the cell that contains its nucleus next are the dendrites they're a group
of feathery filaments located on the outside of the soma and finally we have the axon this is a
long narrow tube that extends from the soma so even though the axon and soma are connected the
axon can actually be thousands of times longer so now that you know the players we can dive
deeper into the connections themselves in order to transmit a signal to neurons connect by linking
the axon of one cell to the dendrites of another this establishes something called a synapse since
every neuron can make thousands of connections neuro scientists estimate that the average human
brain contains about 100 trillion synapses so what does a synapse actually look like there's a
common misconception that the axon and dendrites physically touch each other when two neurons
create a synapse but there's always a tiny tiny gap between them this is known as the synaptic
cleft and it's only about 20 nanometers wide for reference that's 20 millionths of a millimeter but
don't let its small size fool you your synapses contain one of the most important processes
in your brain so how do neurons actually send electrical signals well it's a lot like flipping
on light switch when it's off nothing happens the neuron essentially just sits there but when the
switch is turned on the neuron springs into action it's important to remember that each
neuron requires a certain amount of stimulation to start working this is called an activation
threshold now thinking back to our light switch what happens if you don't push hard enough well
you won't actually turn anything on right but with enough pressure you can successfully change
the position of the switch neurons do the same thing it only activates when a stimulus crosses
that threshold if it does an electrical impulse will start at the soma travel down the axon and
arrive at the synapse now like I said axons can get pretty long so to make sure the signal moves
fast enough axons are wrapped in a fatty layer called the myelin sheath this layer insulates the
axon and keeps the signal traveling at a steady rate once the signal arrives at the synapse the
axon releases a bunch of neurotransmitters these chemicals cross the synaptic cleft that tiny gap
between the two neurons and then bind onto a new set of dendrites those neurotransmitters
are then responsible for stimulating another electrical impulse which passes through the
next neuron this process repeats over and over again sending electrochemical signals all over
the brain this sounds pretty complicated right well when it comes to the human brain we've just
barely scratched the surface we hardly touched on glia or glial cells these are non neural cells
that are found in the brain and spinal cord now while they don't process information glial cells
serve a variety of different purposes one type of glial cells surrounds neurons and holds them
in place another supplies neurons with nutrients to keep them healthy a third produces the myelin
that wraps around the axon of each neuron and keeps it insulated glial cells are often left
out of the conversation but they make up a huge portion of the brain scientists estimate that
every has between 100 billion and 1 trillion glial cells each one working to support your
neurons in one way or another ok so I think you get the idea the brain is amazingly complex but
that isn't the only reason why it's so powerful especially compared to a computer you see the
brain uses its complexity in a very special way which awards it the deeper level of subtlety and
flexibility think back to our light switch analogy if you push the button hard enough
the light switch will turn on right so that means one of your neurons is stimulated enough to start
working so wouldn't that suggest that information transmission in the brain is a binary process in
other words aren't there only two options either the neuron is working or it's not working right
one of the other because that's essentially how computers work their signals are digital which
means there are only a finite number of options on or off 1 or 0 normally the opposite of a digital
signal is called an analog signal that means the information would be continuous and uninterrupted
but the brain isn't really digital or analog it's a unique combination of the two while the
individual neurons are either turned on or turned off the signals themselves can fluctuate multiple
neurons might fire simultaneously or in a strange pattern to create different kinds of continuous
signals you can imagine how those changes could influence the way the receiving neurons react yet
another major difference between your brain and a computer lies in its modularity when a system
has modularity its pieces can be separated into logical interchangeable sections if for example
if I ask you to show me where your computer's memory comes from could you of course you could
point to the individual parts of the computer that handle the processing and storage of information
and so if your computer runs out of memory you could remove and replace that small section of
the system okay now what if I asked you to do the same thing for your brain you might reference the
cerebral cortex or the hippocampus which are both well-known contributors to memory but there are
many more sections of the brain that play an equally important role I know it is tempting
to organize the pieces of the brain according to function modularity is usually a helpful way to
understand complicated systems in this case you might assume the frontal lobe handles one thing
while the temporal lobe handles another but the pieces of your brain aren't really separate or
modular everything is tied together that means several areas of the brain are activated when
you do just about anything this unique design allows for each part of the brain to influence
and strengthen seemingly unrelated processes well take memory and imagination don't your
creative ideas usually stem from something that stands out in your memory by activating similar
parts of the brain our cognitive talents are woven together they strengthen and diversify
each other by working in tandem finally the brain distinguishes itself from computers by operating
without any kind of software without a program to run a computer can't really do anything it's
just a big hunk of metal and plastic you build a machine in order to run a certain
kind of software if the brain is like a computer shouldn't it have software too this is where the
brain mind distinction usually comes into play some scientists claim that your physical brain
acts like hardware while your abstract mind is run through your brain like software but this
model fails to consider how your brain and mind are fundamentally connected anytime something
happens in your mind something physically will always reflect that change in other
words differences in one are consistently tied to differences in the other okay so let's jump
back to our original question how powerful is the human brain while it's usually equated to
a supercomputer this comparison doesn't really do your brain justice at its core the brain might be
comprised of a hundred billion light switches but it uses those switches to blend adapt and
fluctuate in ways that will continue to baffle scientists for decades to come hey thank you
for watching top think and be sure to subscribe because more incredible content is on the way