Brain Basics
How many thoughts does our brain have a day?
50,000-70,000!
The part of our brain that stores all of our memories. (Must have actual name!)
Hippocampus
True or False: The brain likes repetition and doing things lots of times.
True. This makes things easier for our brain and it has to pay attention to less.
Name a food that is good for our brain.
Salmon, blueberries, green vegetables, nuts, avocados, whole grains - really any food with wholesome ingredients and lots of nutrients!
True or False: There is a part of our brain that keeps us breathing, our heart beating and our body temperature normal without us even thinking about it.
True, it is called the Medulla Oblongata. It is found ad the back of your brain, down towards your spine.
How much does the brain weigh?
3-5 lbs.
The part of our brain the makes decisions, learns, thinks, and understands things for us.
Prefrontal Cortex
What is the window of tolerance?
How much stress someone can handle at one time - it changes every day, sometimes every hour.
True or False: sleep is the MOST important for our bodies, not our brains.
True or false: Human brains double in size during our first year of life.
False - it TRIPLES in size during our first year of life.
What is a cell in the brain called? They make up the web.
Neurons!
The part of our brain that our negative emotions come from and tries to keep us safe.
Amygdala
How do the Hippocampus, Amygdala and PFC work together to make a decision? Give an example!
Rollercoaster - My hippocampus pulls up a memory of the last time I went on a rollercoaster and puked, my amygdala makes me feel fear and worry, and my PFC decides to not let me ride it again.
Name the 4 things we talked about that keep your brain healthy.
Sleep, Eating, Exercise and Relaxing.
True or False - the brain can feel pain.
False - there are no pain receptors in our brain. You could have surgery on your brain and not feel anything.
What are some questions we can ask ourselves if our brain is having lots of negative thoughts?
Is this a big problem? Would I say to a friend? Will this matter in a week/month/etc? Is this thought really true?
What are the 3 animals that we talk about for the 3 parts of our brain? (All 3 of them matches with all 3 parts)
Guard Dog = Amygdala
Elephant = Hippocampus
Wise Owl = Prefrontal Cortex
Our brain tends to think negativity a lot - what is this called?
a) Negativity Technique
b) Negativity Bias
c) Positivity Bias
b) Negativity Bias
At what age does your brain fully develop?
25-30 years old.
Why do we get brain freezes?
Because our brain can sense a drop in temperature in our bodies, so it sends painful warning signals to our nervous system to "slow down". The scientific term for a brain freeze is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.