Three preconceived ideas about the brain put under scrutiny

Although it only represents 2% of the body mass of a human being, the brain nonetheless remains the most complex organ and is the subject of numerous clichés. Using all its potential, effects of aging, AI abilities, franceinfo disentangles the true from the false.

More than 300 conferences and workshops are taking place in around a hundred cities in France, to popularize neuroscience, on the occasion of Brain Week, starting Monday March 11. It is also an opportunity to sort through preconceived ideas. Use of brain capacities, effects of age on mental processing speed, capabilities of artificial intelligence, franceinfo sorts it out.

1 Are we only using 10% of our brain?

This is false, even if certain advertisements or certain films take up this idea, such as Lucy by Luc Besson. It’s a myth, we use our entire brain to walk, talk, think. Studies carried out in people affected by brain damage have shown that no part of the brain is useless even if we do not necessarily use all of the brain areas simultaneously.

Proof of this intense activity, the brain still consumes 20% of the energy necessary for the body, even though it only represents 2% of its body mass.

2 Does our brain slow down after the age of 20?

This is rather false. It has long been believed, but a large German study, published in 2022, and which covers more than a million people, shows that even if the speed of mental processing seems to peak around the age of 30, it does not decreases only very slightly between the ages of 30 and 60. During the tests, the participants compensated for this slight loss of speed with greater caution and precision. They also made fewer errors in their answers. After age 60, the brain does indeed lose speed but, of course, brain plasticity allows us to continue learning well beyond this age.

3 Can artificial intelligence match human creativity today?

We can wonder about robot artists who compose music, create paintings, write books. But no, AI does not have all the forms of creativity of a human being.
This is what British mathematician Marcus du Sautoy theorized in a book in 2023. An AI can imitate and mix existing artistic styles and rely on randomness to make unique works, but for transformative creativity, that which innovates, and which frees itself from existing models: there the robots are much less talented. The human spirit retains the advantage.