Misconceptions Research Project: The Myth that We Only Use 10% of Our Brains
In Summer 2023, students in Dr. Emily Stark’s Social Psychology course completed a research project where they identified a misconception related to psychology, conducted both background research and an empirical project measuring belief in that misconception, and summarized their findings in a short blog post paper. The goal was to build student research skills as well as showcase the importance of thinking critically about information encountered in the media or in popular culture. This post shares one of the final blog papers created for this project. For more information on this project, just use the contact page to contact Dr. Stark.
By Megan Hagel and Leah Hed
The belief that the average person only uses 10% of their brain power stems from the notion that using 100% of one's brain power will give people “psychic abilities'', and activate all areas of the brain. This pseudoscientific belief has been debunked time and time again, with the use of PET and fMRI scans to help prove this myth to be a common misconception. A PET scan (positron emission tomography scan) takes detailed 3-dimensional images of your body to determine how well your body is functioning, and an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) looks at the brain's blood flow to observe brain activity. PET scans and fMRI machines help relate back to the discipline of psychology, as neuroscience and ‘how the brain works’ is largely attributed to psychology and its teachings. There are many misconceptions surrounding the brain that psychologists actively work hard to prove wrong, and with the help of newer technology, we can see that we activate different areas of our brain everyday.
So why do people believe in this myth? Many people believe that we only use 10% of our brain because of our overall knowledge and our brightness. People believe that we could be extremely smart if we use more of our brain power than only using 10%. Sam McDougle, a doctoral candidate in psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University states that, If we only use 10% of our brains, imagine how totally great life would be if we could use more (McDougle, 2013). The Michael J. Fox foundation also found that 65% of Americans believe it to be true that humans only use 10% of their brain power (Schultz, 2013).
A study done by Dodel et al. (2000) used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe what parts of the brain are being stimulated when different kinds of activity are being done.They had participants do three different tasks while inside of an fMRI machine, the first holding still for one minute, the second finger tapping on both hands for 20 seconds and then resting for 20 seconds repeated 5 times, the third imagining finger tapping for the same length of time as the second part. As the participant was following instructions, they were taking images of their brain at the rate of two images per second. They found that different areas of the brain were activated when focusing on the three individual tasks. The left and right motor cortex, which controls movement in the body, were found to be the most active area of the brain. They also observed heart rate and breathing, which the medulla is in charge of. This article relates back to our misconception as it shows we use more than 10% of our brain daily. The motor cortex alone takes up a little less than 30% of the overall brain, which means that we as humans use more than 10% of our brain daily.
Another study that helps prove our misconception to be false would be from Brown et al. (2018) who looked at the brain's response to different illusions. They used illusions that involved different levels of processing in hopes to locate what area of the brain is stimulated. They used 24 participants from different fields of academics ranging under the age of 18 and above. They showed the participants two different illusions, both in black and white, and were required to go through ‘trials’ to produce results. The results found that using an fMRI machine, they were able to observe the ventral pathway being used for object recognition and the visual cortex, two areas of the brain being stimulated at once.
This helps disprove our misconception as it again proves that many different areas of the brain can be stimulated at once. We use more than 10% of our brain to understand illusions, as this article shows evidence in support of that. Although this article wasn’t in direct correlation to our misconception, I think it still is a good indicator that we use more than 10% of our brains.
Another study by Fink et al. (2009) who measured brain activity during creative problem solving by means of EEG and fMRI scans. The study found that we do in fact use both brain hemispheres when it comes to brain activity and problem solving. The study included an experimental lab test with participants who were screened by an EEG recording and a fMRI scan. The object of the experiment was to measure the participants brain activity during problem-solving situations. The test also measured the participants' behavior. The EEG recording did result in the right brain hemisphere exhibiting a stronger synchronization than the left hemisphere. The fMRI study found that both hemispheres are at work during this brain activity., again highlighting how we use various regions of our brain for different tasks.
From a misconceptions survey conducted by Dr. Stark from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and her students, it was found that out of the 41 participants, 23.08% believed that people are only able to use and access only 10% of their brain. There was also data from that survey that said on average, people believe they use around 54.08% of their brain power daily. Another question asked if the participants believed that the “smarter-than-average” person uses more brain power than someone who is less smart, and 33.33% responded saying yes.
When you go on a trip, would you ever utilize only 10% of your suitcase? No, that’s ridiculous, you would fill it up to the capacity with all of your clothes and necessities. Why would you limit yourself to using only 10% of your suitcase when there is so much more that you could include to potentially improve your overall experience? Not only is this true about your suitcase, but it is also true about your brain power. As humans, we are all students of the world, meaning that we are constantly exposed to new things and environments that stimulate our ability to learn on a daily basis. With the endless supply of new information presented everyday, it is ridiculous to think that we only utilize 10% of our brain power throughout our life. In our research, we confirmed that we use both the right and left hemispheres of our brain, and we found data that shows that we use 30% of our brain by just moving, which is evidence that we are using more than 10% of our brain power. It is irresponsible to believe, and to teach others, that we only utilize 10% of our brain power - when our brains are capable of so much more. We need to debunk this myth so we do not reinforce a “10% limitation” that is false. Everyday is another potential for growth and we know that the brain has much more capacity than just 10%. As humans, we need to embrace the infinite ability of our brains to absorb, think, learn, collect, and compile information.
References
Brown, J. M., Breitmeyer, B. G., Hale, R. G., & Plummer, R. W. (2018). Contrast sensitivity indicates processing level of visual illusions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44(10), 1557-1566. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000554
Chew, S. L. (2018, August 29). Myth: We only use 10% of our brains. Association for Psychological Science - APS. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/uncategorized/myth-we-only-use-10-of-our-brains.html
Dodel, S., Herrmann, J. M., & Geisel, T. (2000). Localization of brain activity—blind separation for fMRI data. Neurocomputing: An International Journal, 32-33, 701-708. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-2312(00)00235-6
Fink, A., Grabner, R. H., Benedek, M., Reishofer, G., Hauswirth, V., Fally, M., Neuper, C., Ebner, F., & Neubauer, A. C. (2009). The creative brain: Investigation of brain activity during creative problem solving by means of EEG and fMRI. Human Brain Mapping, 30(3), 734-748. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20538
Hampton, D. (2022, April 26). How to use 100% of your brain. The Best Brain Possible. https://thebestbrainpossible.com/how-to-use-100-of-your-brain/ How can you unlock your brain’s full potential? Student Lesson. (2022, August 20). https://studentlesson.com/how-can-you-unlock-your-brains-full-potential/
Perry. S. (2014 July 2014). We use only 10% of our brains? It’s a myth. Minnpost. Retrieve from: https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2014/07/we-use-only-10-our-brains-its-myth/?gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw-vmkBhBMEiwAlrMeF6tweko1v0uCq5Lq_-jGNdaLc_JL8p-uwMCD0voGNYNNGtUE3_axyhoCiQYQAvD_BwE
Schultz, S. (n.d.). New survey finds Americans care about brain health, but misperceptions abound. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research | Parkinson’s Disease. https://www.michaeljfox.org/publication/new-survey-finds-americans-care-about-brain-health-misperceptions-abound