5 BRAIN MYTHS BUSTED

1 TEN PER CENT

While neurons may be heavily outnumbered by other brain cells, we employ much more than ten per cent of our brain for almost all actions, even for simple ones such as gripping an item.

2 MALE VS FEMALE

Males and females have historically been attributed to have different cognitive abilities for certain tasks, but recent studies show this isn’t the case. For example, a study looking at maths ability in children from 68 countries found no differences between the two sexes.

3 TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS

While people may become unwilling to learn new skills when they grow older, the neurons in their brains are still able to form new connections, so they remain able to learn, permitting the desire is there.

4 BIGGER THAN OUR ANCESTORS

We may feel smarter than any humans who came before us, but counterintuitively our brains are around ten per cent smaller than our ancestors’ from several millennia ago.

5 BRAIN FOG ISN’T REAL

Although it isn’t a medical term, brain fog describes when the brain’s usual clarity is lacking, causing forgetfulness, confusion and slower mental processing.