OTHER BRAIN MYTHS

“Pop culture has been very good at taking something true but very specific and stretching it out to a myth,” Dr Kassem says. One historical myth was that the soul was in the brain’s pineal gland. “Because this is the only structure not duplicated on both sides, but situated at the exact centre of the brain, philosophers and anatomists used to argue the soul must reside there.”

Dr Horvath says there are too many myths to count. “The hippocampus doesn’t store memories (although it plays a role in memory formation). The amygdala does not control emotions (although it communicates with areas that can drive emotional expression). All animals have a frontal lobe – not just humans.

“And, of course, we use 100 per cent of our brain 100 per cent of the time. If we only used 10 per cent of our brain, the other 90 per cent would be dead.”