How Does the Brain Process Information?

 

Have you ever just sat down and wondered how the brain works? We come across so much information and opportunities for learning on a daily basis, and our brains take it all in. That is a lot of information to constantly have to process. 

The anatomy of the human brain when retaining information is something that can be very interesting. Throughout this article, you are going to learn how much we can learn at one time, overall, and how we are able to do it. The brain is an amazing organ in our bodies. 

How Much Information Do We Process Each Day?

The human brain is an amazing thing. It can retain a large amount of information in the form of memories. Even when we aren’t trying, our brains are constantly working and retaining. The information that is going to the brain has to be stuff that you are paying attention to. While there may be millions of bits flowing, only what you are truly focusing on is being remembered. 

The brain processing speed is astonishing. Its ability to work at high rates of speed would amaze you. If you were to just look at the times that you were sitting down and not working, you can expect your brain to process 34 gigabytes of information every day. That doesn’t include when you are actually working and trying to retain information.

How Does The Brain Work In Learning?

Kids go to school and learn a large mass of information every day, even adults learn on a daily basis. Our brain has a big role when it comes to learning. It is needed to help us retain the information we are being given. It is important to understand that everyone learns at a different pace.

It may take some people a few minutes to catch on to the lesson that is being taught, but then another person in the same class may take a while longer to understand. Taking a group of people who are the same age doesn’t mean that you will be able to teach everyone in the same way and they retain it the same. 

How Fast Does The Brain Process Information?

Some people retain information better than others. They can look at something briefly and recite exactly what was there. Scientists have spent a lot of time trying to record exactly how fast the brain can work. They have come up with some astonishing results. 

The way that scientists are able to come to these conclusions is through a series of tests and watching reaction times of a number of different people. Using methods of visual lexical decision tasks and many other experiments. Studies have shown that the brain can retain information of visual sight after only 13 milliseconds of exposure. That is an extremely brief viewing. 

How Much Knowledge Can The Brain Hold?

There are many parts of the brain and they each have their own job to do. The amount of storage that the brain can hold is far larger than what you can learn in your lifetime. However much information you are able to stay focused on and pay attention to, you can retain. 

Our brains remember things very well, and sometimes that can hurt us in the long run. Things like fears, phobias, and little quirks are sometimes hard to get rid of because we have trained our brains to believe what they are. That is one reason learning a new language can be challenging, possible, but challenging. What you learn first in life tends to be what you are accustomed to. 

How Many Types of Memory Do We Have

Your brain does not only remember things in one specific way. It takes the participation of many different functions of the body to create all the memories that we have. There are 6 different types of memory. The different types are:

  • Sensory Memory
  • Short-Term Memory 
  • Working Memory
  • Long-Term Memory
  • Episodic Memory
  • Procedural Memory

By using all of these different forms, you make up all the things that you have knowledge and memory of. The way things feel, smell, current events, things in the past, and many more. It all works together to form them all. 

How Does Our Brain Process Sensory Information?

There are many ways that our brains work to retain information. Not only do we remember things that we learn through reading and being taught, but our sensory memory helps us to learn as well. There are a total of 7 sensory receptors that help us retain and learn things, and they are:

  1. Sight- The things you see and what they look like. 
  2. Taste- the way things taste and what they are.
  3. Smell- What you smell and what it is that smells.
  4. Hearing- What you hear and what is making the noise.
  5. Touch- How things feel and what you are feeling.
  6. Vestibular- Learning what up and what's down, and how to stay balanced.
  7. Proprioception- Knowing how to perform simple tasks and the force we need to do them.

All of these things help us learn, and the brain processes the information that our sensories are telling our brain. You will begin to remember smells and tastes. Sounds become familiar and the feel of things. 

How Long Does It Take To Make a Quick Decision?

Making quick decisions isn’t something that everyone is good at. It may take some people longer to express their decision in things than others. But, the brain has a certain idea of how fast it can make a decision. Which in reality, is relatively quickly. 

The decision making process is something that is hard to pinpoint. Because of the fact that some can do it faster in general than others. It can all play a role in the fact of certainty and assurance. Some things are easier to make a decision on also. Our consciousness sometimes will take longer than our brain to make a decision. 

How Does The Brain Store Information?

The brain stores information in its own defined way. There is actually a trail of events that happen in a split second for a memory to be made. The route traveled is direct to the cortex, this area is overflowing in nerve cells. 

There are 5 different steps to storing information in your brain. Each step is important and has its own job in the process. The actual steps that are taken to store something in our memory are;

  1. The Prefrontal Cortex
  2. The Neocortex
  3. Basal Ganglia
  4. Amygdala
  5. Hippocampus

Supplements Can Help

If you are searching for ways to improve your memory retention and boost your brainpower, there are supplements that have been proven to be successful. As we age many things happen, we begin to have trouble with our memory and learning capabilities. If that sounds like you, try doing some research on Spermidine. 

Spermidine can renew the cells that have worn out in your body. Boosting up the cells in the body are not only going to help you with your brain processing, but it is also going to make you feel better as well. It is a natural supplement that has great results of turning the old cells over and giving them new life.

  • Don Moxley - Director of Applied Science

    Don Moxley is the Director of Applied Science at Longevity Labs. Moxley draws upon his career as an athlete, a sports scientist, and an instructor to lead and educate on the science of autophagy and longevity.