THE IDEA THAT WE ONLY USE 10 PER CENT OF OUR BRAINS IS A MYTH THAT NEEDS TO DIE

The myth has been around for over a century and as well as being utter nonsense, it's also potentially dangerous

- DR DERN BURNETT

I was recently asked which scientific 'myth' I'd like to see banished from the public consciousness.

Predictably, given the decades I've spent in neuroscience, I had to choose the persistent notion that humans 'only use 10 per cent of our brains'.

We've all heard it, the idea that everything our brains do on a daily basis is handled by just 10 per cent of our grey matter and the rest is... just sitting there, waiting, brimming with untapped potential.

Let's be clear, it's complete nonsense and always has been. Many a scientist has pointed this out but, seemingly, to no avail, as the myth keeps popping up all the time. But here's the thing: it's not just a silly notion, something that leads to eye rolls and shoddy movie plots. It's worse than that. You could even argue that it's actually dangerous.

To begin with, the origins of the myth are unclear. Some contend that it stems from the fact that the

original staining methods that made neurons visible under a microscope for the first time only stained a small percentage of the densely packed-together nerve cells. Another possible origin may be that it was widely believed neurons only made up 10 per cent of our brain cells, with the rest being glia, 'support' cells. More recent studies show this to be a huge oversimplification, if not just flat-out wrong.

It was also assumed that glia were less 'functional' than is the case.