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Spitzka produced a list of the weights of the brains of important,
well-known men. The heaviest brain on the list was that of
Turgenev, the Russian novelist, at 2000g. However, the brain of
another great genius, Walt Whitman, weighed only 1282g.
There are no significant differences between the intelligence
levels of males and females. However, girls under seven score a
little higher than boys in IQ tests and the highest IQ recorded is
that of Marylin vos Savant at 230. However, men and women do
differ in the way they think. Generally, women are more skilled
verbally and men do better on visual-spatial tasks.
Interestingly, the fibres which join the two halves of the brain
have been found to be larger in women than in men. This
supports the theory that women can change from 'practical' to
'emotional' thinking-more quickly than men.
People with mental problems have often been treated extremely
badly. Two hundred years ago, the mentally ill were swung
around in revoking chairs, or holes were drilled in their skulls to
release evil spirits. From the 1930s, the mentally ill were
subjected to electric shock therapy and lobotomy - the removal
of part of their brain. In the 1960s and 70s, thousands of people
were given drugs to cope with anxiety and then became addicted
to them.
The brain needs ten times as much blood as other organs of the
body, as it can't store glucose for later use. This is different to
muscles and other organs and although the adult brain makes up
only two per cent of the body weight, its oxygen consumption is
twenty per cent of the body’s total.
There are similarities between brains and computers. Computers
can do complicated calculations at incredible speeds. But they
work in a fixed way, because they can't make memory
associations. If we need a screwdriver and there isn't one, we will
think laterally and use a knife or coin instead. Computers can't do
this. In fact, it is claimed that when it comes to seeing, moving
and reacting to stimuli, no computer can compete with even the
brain power of a fly.
Most of our mental processes are deeply formed habits.
Challenging your brain to do things differently helps it develop.
Try changing routines as often as you can: take a bus instead of
going by car, sit in a different chair. An extreme but useful
exercise is to read something upside down — you can actually
feel your brain at work.
Exercise more. Good health and fitness levels give you
overall improved energy which leads to better concentration.
Cooking is a good all-round mental exercise. It needs
mathematical, organisational and scientific skills as well as
challenging memory and creative ability. Use recipes at first and
then learn to guess amounts, combinations, reactions of
ingredients and timing.
Do puzzles and play games. Teach yourself to work out
codes and expand your vocabulary at the same time.
II. Reading for main ideas.
1. Read the article and choose the most suitable headings given
bellow for each paragraph.
a. Need for blood
b. Do we know much?
c. The super computer
d. Is bigger better?
e. Make your brain work
f. The battle of males and females.
g. A horrifying history.
