The Incredible Human Brain…

Ok, I’ve always known that us humans use a VERY small percentage of our brain power, capability…sadly a major share of this amazing organ is left untapped, probably hoping every day that we will turn to its super powers to make things happen and the wait continues. I’ve read countless amazing stories, watched documentaries, and more over the years that have always captured my curious gene, my thirst for anything on science and medicine breakthroughs…

One lazy evening during my recent summer holiday in the UK, I watched a documentary on a British woman who woke up a few years ago (after a really crippling migraine) speaking English with a Chinese accent. She lost her Plymouth accent to a Chinese one, just like that. Boom….Can you imagine waking up one day and find you don’t sound the same when you talk? It would freak me out that’s for sure…and all my loved ones. A surreal situation but a reality for this woman! The cause remains unresolved for her, after countless neurological and psychological intensive tests, the brain activity looks normal with no signs of damage, or anything but what explains how a 38 old woman wakes up one day after a bad migraine with a different accent. Sadly, this condition, referred to as ‘Foreign Accent Syndrome’ has had a big impact on the woman’s life, sanity, and more. She suffers of daily debilitating migraines since, that make her a hostage in her own home and stuck with this foreign voice that comes out every time she speaks. She feels robbed of her own persona and wants it back understandably. She’s craving for her old self, and not the Chinese sounding one she’s stuck with for the foreseeable future and perhaps for the rest of her life….The power of the brain strikes again and proves how little we understand it, have a look at this YouTube documentary and tell me how you feel as you see this poor woman adjusting to a new and painful reality in her life.

We just can never underestimate the power or the brain, or what makes it tick….We think we are in control of things but actually its our mind that has all the controls…

Looking at the brain from a behavioral aspect and a much less serious case to the woman diagnosed with the Foreign Accent Syndrome, can you explain this story? What causes a woman to walk into a hair salon, with her son, and ask for her long hair to be shaved off. When asked why, she replies, ‘I want new hair, I am sick of my old hair’. She sits unphased whilst having her hair shaved off, oblivious of her young sons’, other stylists and customers’ shocked faces. For all of us, we are like, what made this woman decide she wanted all her hair shaved off? It had nothing to do with a boyfriend or husband split or a medical reason. The hair stylist who had to shave the woman’s hair off, can’t understand it to this day what compelled this woman to insist on shaving her hair off completely. She refers to it as the most bizarre & personally disturbing experience of her hairdressing career.

I can go on and on with an endless stream of fascinating stories depicting unusual, fascinating and in some cases unexplained human behavior or abilities….the common factor is our beautiful and incredible brain which we are a long way from truly understanding and/or coming close to fully using.