The brain works in mysterious ways. Just how mysterious?
Read on and you’ll be amazed how our brain can trick us.
Freaky brain tricks
Try this to see how our brains can make us feel:
Stand in a doorway with your hands by your side. Press the back of your hands against the frame (like you're trying to raise your hands). Stand there for about a minute, keeping your hands pressed against the frame. Then step out of the doorway and let your hands relax at your side.
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Your arms rose by themselves right?
While you pressed your hands against the frame,
your brain was sending signals to your muscles to
raise your arms. A signal was sent long enough
for tension to build in your muscles. When you
relaxed your arms, there was still some tension
so the arms began to rise. Weird, huh?
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Here's another experiment:
- Lay down on the floor and close your eyes.
- Get a friend to lift your legs up and hold them there for about two minutes.
- Relax and think pleasant thoughts.
- Have your friend lower your feet very slowly.
- Wait a few seconds and it'll feel like your legs are going through the floor. Instead, they're still being lowered.
You'll need a friend for this trick as well:
- Lay on your stomach with your arms stretched out above your head and your eyes closed.
- Have a friend hold your arms as high off the floor as possible - but not so it hurts. After about a minute, your friend needs to lower your arms very slowly. You'll think your arms should've touched the floor. It feels like you're falling even though you're lying down.
- When your friend raised your legs or arms, your brain goes back into a relaxed mode and forgets your legs/arms are raised (it thinks they're still on the floor). When your legs/arms are put back down, it thinks they are on the ground so, when your legs/arms are lowered you get the sensation of falling!
See what your brain can make you hear:
Close your eyes, sit back and EXPEREINCE sound with this 3d audio illusion
Try this to see how our brains are wired:
- While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
- At the same time, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction and there's nothing you can do about it.
Note: you must draw the six (or just a circle) in the counterclockwise direction (i.e., from the top of the six, not the bottom).
Give this a shot to see how our brains are alike:
Add the following without using a calculator or pen and paper:
- You have 1000
- Add 40
- Add 1000
- Add 30
- Again 1000
- Add 20
- Add again 1000
- And finally 10
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The correct answer is 4100.Did you get 5000? You’re wrong.
If you don’t believe me check with a calculator.
Something in your brain added it wrong.
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Are you the 2% or 98% of the population?
Just follow the instructions, and answer the questions one at a time and as quickly as you can!
Again, as quickly as you can but don't advance until you've done each of them .
- Think of a number from 1 to 10
- Multiply that number by 9
- If the number is a 2-digit number, add the digits together
- Now subtract 5
- Determine which letter in the alphabet corresponds to the number you ended up with (example: 1=a, 2=b, 3=c)
- Think of a country that starts with that letter
- Remember the last letter of the name of that country
- Think of the name of an animal that starts with that letter
- Remember the last letter in the name of that animal
- Think of the name of a fruit that starts with that letter
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You thinking of a Kangaroo in Denmark eating an Orange?
If you’re not you’re the 2% who thought of something different
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Six Weird brain facts:
- Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection, therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.
- There are about 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain.
- How much does human brain think? 70,000 is the number of thoughts that it is estimated the human brain produces on an average day.
- It is not possible to tickle yourself. The cerebellum, a part of the brain, warns the rest of the brain that you are about to tickle yourself. Since your brain knows this, it ignores the resulting sensation.
- Have you ever been drifting off to sleep when suddenly your body jerks, throwing you awake again? This phenomenon is known as sleep starts. Sleep experts blame this on a mistaken message in the brain: the lack of muscle tension in your body gets confused with the sensation of falling. Your body jerks the arms and legs to try and save itself.
- Every time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new connection in your brain.
Author: Jeannie Wraight
