35 Eye-Opening Facts About the Nervous System

Fact 1: The human brain can generate about 20 watts of electrical power—enough to power a dim light bulb.

Fact 2: Your brain can process information as fast as 120 meters per second, making it one of the fastest "computers" in existence.

Fact 3: The human brain is more active during sleep than during the day when awake.

Fact 4: Nerve impulses can travel at a speed of up to 268 miles per hour.

Fact 5: The number of synapses (connections between nerve cells) in the human brain is estimated to be around 100 trillion.

Fact 6: Your body can send information to and from the brain at speeds of up to 250 miles per hour.

Fact 7: Nerve impulses can travel back and forth from the brain to the body in just a few milliseconds.

Fact 8: The adult human brain weighs about 3 pounds and is composed of about 75% water.

Fact 9: Your brain generates more electrical impulses in a day than all the telephones in the world combined.

Fact 10: The spinal cord is capable of reflex actions that happen without any input from the brain, allowing for rapid responses to stimuli.

Fact 11: The sensation of pain is created by the brain, not the body part experiencing the pain.

Fact 12: Nerve impulses can travel so fast that you can react to something in as little as one-fifteenth of a second.

Fact 13: The human nervous system continues to develop and change throughout adulthood.

Fact 14: There are approximately 86 billion neurons in the human brain.

Fact 15: The length of all the nerves in an adult human would be about 45 miles if stretched end to end.

Fact 16: Nerve impulses move at varying speeds, with some reaching speeds of up to 400 feet per second.

Fact 17: Your brain can hold about 2.5 petabytes of information, equivalent to three million hours of TV shows.

Fact 18: Neurons continue to grow throughout your life, forming new connections and pathways.

Fact 19: The sensation of itching has its own set of dedicated nerve cells, separate from those for pain or temperature.

Fact 20: The nervous system can transmit information at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour.

Fact 21: The brain can recognize and respond to familiar smells even while sleeping.

Fact 22: Neuroplasticity allows the brain to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.

Fact 23: The human nervous system is more complex than any computer ever built.

Fact 24: The optic nerve, responsible for transmitting visual information, contains over one million nerve fibers.

Fact 25: The nervous system can be influenced by thoughts and emotions, impacting overall health and well-being.

Fact 26: There are more nerve cells in the human brain than there are stars in the Milky Way.

Fact 27: If we lined up all the neurons in our body, it would be around 599 miles long.

Fact 28: There are 100 billion neurons in your brain alone.

Fact 29: A newborn baby's brain grows almost 3 times during the course of its first year.

Fact 30: The left side of the human brain controls the right side of the body, and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body.

Fact 31: A newborn baby loses about half of their nerve cells before they are born.

Fact 32: There are about 13,500,000 neurons in the human spinal cord.

Fact 33: The nervous system can transmit nerve impulses as fast as 328 feet per second, and in some cases, the speed of transmission is around 180 miles per hour.

Fact 34: A man's brain has 6.5 times more gray matter compared to women, but a woman's brain has 10 times more white matter compared to men.

Fact 35: Your nervous system cannot function properly in the absence of potassium and sodium ions.