Does the brain burn enough calories to keep you thin? What does that say about fatties?
Wayne State University
"Brain Surges," (DiCresce, undated)
http://www.med.wayne.edu/wayne%20medicine/wm97/brain.htm
University of Northumbria
"Oxygen Administration, Cognitive Performance and Physiological Responses,"
(Mark C. Moss, PhD Thesis 1999)
http://psychology.unn.ac.uk/mark/chapter1/chap1.htm
Yeah
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Energy consumption by the brain is 230-247 calories, based on 17 calories/gram and human brain sizes of 1,350-1,450 grams. During periods of peak performance, adults increase that energy consumption by up to 50%, according to psychology lecturer Mark Moss, of the University of Northumbria. While this may not seem an extraordinary amount of energy, the brain may use 30% of a body's total energy, while being only 2?3% of total body mass. (in case you noticed, I posted on the other side as well. I like playing both sides against the middle :) Side: Yeah
Who eats 1200 calories a day??? If the body burns a max of 400 calories a day, and you consider that to be 1/3 of your total energy that means you only eat 1200 calories a day. Are you all a bunch of twelve year olds? No adult can live a normal active life on that many calories. Unless you are a quadraplegic. Side: Nah
As you said, the brain for such a small organ uses up more than it's share of calories. You also find how the brain is reacting to certain things will help burn even more calories, ie producing nervous energy, or the flight response. I guess this is one of the reasons why different psych meds can play havock with your weight and energy levels. Side: Yeah
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In 1986, researchers isolated both the "at rest" and "active" consumption of calories in the brain. Since then we've learned quite a bit about brain activities, particularly as PET scans have been applied to monitor glucose consumption in the brain. As a result, we know lots of things, including that: energy consumption in the brain is related to learning. In other words, once you've learned something (like mastering that chess game), the energy consumption goes down. energy consumption in the brain is more than two times higher for children under age 4. This is no surprise because they are learning and building brain structure. The brain's energy consumption levels around age 10 to 12. * IQ can effect energy consumption. After learning a task, lower IQ people have to exert more energy to complete a task than high IQ people who have learned the same task. (in case you noticed, I posted on the other side as well. I like playing both sides against the middle :) Side: Nah
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