Medical Myth: We Only Use 10% Of Our Brains, Proven FALSE!

Issue 5 • Myths

Medical Myth: We Only Use 10% Of Our Brains, Proven FALSE!

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers, Aaron Carroll, M.D. and Rachael Vreeman, M.D., explored commonly held medical beliefs that had never been tested. Their results were recently in the British Medical Journal.

Vreeman and Carroll explored the popular belief that we use only 10 percent of our brains.  Metabolic studies, MRI scans, PET scans and other imaging studies show no dormant areas of the brain, and even viewing individual neurons or cells reveals no inactive areas of the brain.

Carroll and Vreeman think this myth probably originated with self improvement experts in the early 1900s who wanted to convince people that they had yet not reached their full potential. With the help of these self proclaimed experts, one could tap into the 90 percent of the brain supposedly not being used.

MYTH: Cracking your knuckles (or other joints) will give you arthritis

Issue 1 • Myths

MYTH: Cracking your knuckles (or other joints) will give you arthritis

FACT: Cracking your joints does no damage and, in fact, protects them against arthritis. Researchers at John Hopkins University found that osteoarthritis is more often present in those who never crack their joints (fingers, backs, knees) than in those who do. That may be because cracking a joint reduces the space within it and results, at least temporarily, in a greater range of motion and flexibility.