The claim that humans only use 5% or 10% of their brains is a neuromyth. Brain imaging studies show that virtually all parts of the brain are active at some point over a 24-hour period. Different regions activate for different tasks. The myth has been around since at least the early 1900s and keeps getting recycled in pop culture (the films Lucy and Limitless both used it as a premise). No neuroscientist has ever endorsed it.
The likely origin is a misquotation of William James, who wrote in The Energies of Men (1907) that people only meet "a small part" of their mental potential. Early neuroscience findings about glial cells (which outnumber neurons and were initially thought to be inert) may have reinforced the confusion. The leap from "we don't use our full potential" to "we only use 10% of our brain" is the kind of distortion that sticks because it sounds empowering.
The claim that humans only use 5% or 10% of their brains is a neuromyth. Brain imaging studies show that virtually all parts of the brain are active at some point over a 24-hour period. Different regions activate for different tasks. The myth has been around since at least the early 1900s and keeps getting recycled in pop culture (the films Lucy and Limitless both used it as a premise). No neuroscientist has ever endorsed it.
The likely origin is a misquotation of William James, who wrote in The Energies of Men (1907) that people only meet "a small part" of their mental potential. Early neuroscience findings about glial cells (which outnumber neurons and were initially thought to be inert) may have reinforced the confusion. The leap from "we don't use our full potential" to "we only use 10% of our brain" is the kind of distortion that sticks because it sounds empowering.