Favorite Quotes | Striking Facts | Interesting Images

Favorite Quotes

“We have at present no basis for a scientific explanation of the brain-mind relationship. We can only continue to study the brain without philosophical prejudice. And if the day should ever dawn when scientific analysis of body and brain solves the “mystery,” all men who have sought the truth in all sincerity will rejoice alike: the professing materialist and the dualist, the scientist and the philosopher, the agnostic and the convinced worshipper. Surely none need fear the truth.” (Wilder Penfield, Speech and Brain Mechanisms, 1959)

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” (Dalai Lama)

“I believe in an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.” (Arthur Hays Sulzberger, Publisher of The New York Times from 1935-1961)

More to come . . .

Striking Facts

• Estimated amount of glucose used by an adult human brain each day, expressed in M&Ms: 250 (Harper’s Index, October, 1989)

• If you flattened out all of the folds on the surface of the brain, it would cover an area about the size of a pillowcase (2500 square centimeters).

• Average number of neurons in the brain = 100 billion

• Average number of glial cells (supporting cells) in the brain = 10-50 times the number of neurons

• The brain weighs about 3 pounds (about 2% of body weight in a 150-pound person)

• 15-20% of all blood pumped out of the heart goes directly to the brain, despite the fact that the brain accounts for only about 2% of body weight

• The brain is composed of approximately 75% water

More to come . . .

Interesting Images

Harvey Cushing: The “Father of neurosurgery”, 1869-1939, also the winner of a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of physician William Osler

Courtesy of the Harvey Cushing Brain Tumor Registry, Yale School of Medicine

The Harvey Cushing Brain Collection: This educational collection of brains, collected by neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing, was rediscovered by a medical student in the sub-basement of the medical student dormitory at Yale University.

Olfactory groove meningioma: This patient presented with a several year history of depression, which was, in retrospect, most likely related to this benign tumor. This type of tumor typically grows slowly, over years or even decades. Presented are three different views of her MRI. The tumor is the large white mass, which is compressing her frontal lobes to an extreme degree.

“Bone windows” of CT scan: These CT scan images of the head focus specifically on the skull as opposed to the brain. In general, a scan of the head should look roughly the same (symmetrical) on the left compared to the right. In this patient, a large portion of the right frontal region (on the left side of each scan) is gone. To find out why, read chapter 13.