Using the Brain at Full Capacity

In this article, I wanted to include one of my favorite science fiction. Lucy. I'm guessing there is no one left not knowing of it. In the movie, we are watching the adventure of a woman named Lucy, who has reached 100 percent capacity of her brain. Many scientific topics are covered in the film. From the claims that the whole brain is not used, to evolutionary development… From the destructiveness of human nature to the formation of the universe… The topics covered in the movie can be discussed as a separate topics, but now we will discuss how much of the brain we use and how much more we can use.

Let's remember the plot of the movie in a little more detail. Warning, this section may contain spoilers.

Our heroine Lucy, a normal girl, falls into the hands of the drug mafia because of her boyfriend. Lucy, who has to be a courier for a synthetic drug, leaks from the package placed on her stomach due to the way she was treated during the transfer. This substance, called CPH4, mixes with Lucy's blood and the damage is done. Lucy's perceptions open, and her intelligence increases; She develops abilities such as reading minds, moving objects from afar, seeing inside matter, directing people, and gradually becoming invincible. Towards the end, she gains experiences such as traveling in time and even controlling time.

When we look at the movie from a purely scientific point of view, we may drown in logical errors, but the main theme that it wants to tell us is not completely empty. Hollywood doesn't just shoot most of their science fiction movies. If you've noticed, you'll notice that most science fiction or fantasy ever made turns into reality after a while. Jetsons flying cars, Star Trek's portable communication device (phone), RoboCop's wearable screen, Jurrasic Park's animal cloning, and more...

Since most of the scenarios mentioned in these movies are actually subjects that are already being studied, it is no surprise that Hollywood has contacted scientists. In other words, we can say that scientists are also helping while the scenarios are being written. This means that the question of what happens if the human brain works at full capacity has already been studied, and is still being researched.

Let's see how the movie guides us. Two issues caught my eye that I think we should investigate. The first is the substance called CPH4. The second is the question of how much of the brain we use.

In the movie, CPH4 is said to increase the working capacity of the brain, like the NZT-48 molecule mentioned in the movie Limitless before. Well, is it really so?

CPH4, or 6-carboxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropterin, is an enzyme required for the formation of tetrahydrobiopterin, a cofactor of aromatic amino acid hydroxylase, produced in the body. Although such a molecule actually exists, it has neither neurological effects nor brain capacity enhancing effects. At least, such effectiveness has not yet been proven.

During the movie, we watch this substance increase the brain's ten percent usage capacity to 100 percent. So, do we really only use 10 percent of our brain?

This is actually an urban myth. It seems that Luc Besson wanted to use the influence of this myth in his movie.

Thanks to imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging techniques, we can detect brain activity. According to studies on this subject, more than ten percent of the brain is active even for simple activities such as resting and looking at a picture. Contrary to claims, scientists have yet to find a non-functioning part of the brain.

In this case, does the possibility of our brain's development fall into imaginary water? Of course not… The brain is a dynamic structure. It constantly creates new connections and gets rid of those that are no longer needed. So it changes. It is also possible to change the brain for the better and increase the connections established. So we still have a chance.

Maybe not with NZT-48 or CPH4, but with other methods we can improve the brain. Brain exercises or reading books are the best-known ways. But are they enough? Considering a superpower like Lucy, I think we should push the limits a little further.

It may not be a CPH4, but some brain performance-enhancing supplements or drugs are being produced today. We can give many examples of nootropic supplements such as fish oil, resveratrol, caffeine, phosphatidylserine, acetyl-L-carnitine, Ginko Biloba, creatine, S-adenosyl methionine, and methylphenidate. These substances, which nourish and protect the brain, therefore contribute to the increase of blood flow to the brain. But we still have a long way to go. Because even these do not allow us to write a book in a night or do telepathy.

What else do we have? Let's leave chemicals and look inside the brain and its working principle. Learned information, memories, reactions to external stimuli… All this happens thanks to electrical transmissions in the brain. In other words, the activity of the brain means the generation of electricity. At this point, another question emerges that we need to think. Can we increase the number of connections in the brain by imitating these electrical transmissions with an outside intervention?

Researchers at Imperial College London have proven that applying low-voltage current can synchronize different areas of the brain with each other, enabling people to perform better on tasks that require short-term memory.

In this study with ten volunteers, participants were asked to perform a series of memory tasks of increasing difficulty while theta stimuli were given to two brain regions at partially different times, simultaneously, or just suddenly. Participants tried to remember whether the numbers appearing on the screen were the same as the previous number, or were the same as the two previous numbers.

According to the results of the experiment, the response time shortened when the brain regions were stimulated simultaneously. Greater success was achieved in more difficult tasks in which two numbers had to be remembered at once. “A more difficult task is normally done more slowly, but with synchronized stimuli, people did it in less time as with simple ones,” explains Dr. Violante.

As can be seen from this experiment, giving electrical impulses to the brain can have a positive effect on memory development. Of course, this is not as simple as it seems. Finding the right spot in the brain and deciding on the right volt level to achieve the desired results is a very difficult and delicate situation. Research on the subject is ongoing. Of course, the goal is to fix brain damage rather than turn us into superhumans like Lucy. Let's not get excited right away.

We came to this subject from brain cells working with electrical signals. If we look at this picture from a different point, this time we will see that electrical vibrations form wave-like patterns. Brain waves… Scientists talk about five different brain waves. Delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma… While lower frequency brain waves make us feel calm and relaxed, higher frequency waves are known to stimulate us.

Let's briefly talk about the times these waves are dominant. During deep sleep delta, during light sleep or deep meditation theta, while awake but not processing much information alpha waves, during focusing and mental activities beta, in idea generation and learning situations gamma waves are produced.

In the light of this information, we can comment that if we manage to keep the brain at the level of beta and gamma waves, we can increase mental activity. Of course, it can be tried, but there is a point that needs attention. Gamma waves also mean stress. In other words, while increasing the power of the brain, we can also cause it to eat itself. So if we are going to do something by directing the brain waves, it is helpful to go balanced. Like using alpha waves to reduce stress... It's also said that alpha waves increase creativity.

Soooo. We took various chemicals, placed electrodes in our brains, and converted the brain waves to gamma. We are at our highest level of mental activity. What will happen now? How will the brain development be, learning speed, and limit?

The limits of the brain or memory have not been fully explored in studies conducted so far. You may have encountered very high numbers in different places, but they are not conclusively proven. Still, we can argue that capacity is either too large to measure or unlimited. According to Reber of Northwestern University, “The limit of human memory is not related to the capacity of the computer's hard drive but the speed of downloading data. The problem is not exceeding the capacity of the brain; the problem is that the speed of information coming is much higher than the speed the processing it to the memory.”

Based on Reber's idea, if we can stimulate the brain and increase the speed of data processing, there is no information in the world that we cannot learn. If we assume that we do not have a certain limit or that our memory is large enough to hold the information in the universe, we are not likely to receive a 'memory full’ warning.

So what does a person do with this much information?

Think about a time when you started learning something about a topic you were interested. People mostly become more willing to learn as they learn in such situations. Because every new information opens a piece of new information that has not been learned and it seems that there is no end to it. In my opinion, as a person who can learns everything that he sees and hears, would not stop learning. Otherwise, why would you want to access such a large capacity?

Clifford DeVoe, The Thinker of The Flash, doing evil; Limitless's Eddie Morra had chosen to write a book, and Lucy had chosen to explore the reason for the universe's existence. If you ask me, Lucy makes the most plausible choice among these scenarios.

As knowledge increases, ego decreases. As knowledge decreases, ego increases.

We have seen many living examples of Einstein's words around us. In other words, a person whose brain capacity has increased so much would probably be interested in the knowledge itself and its origin instead of dealing with his own simple weaknesses. For this reason, I think that a person who uses his brain at full capacity will follow a path similar to Lucy's and will investigate our purpose in existence. Of course, I do not know whether we do this by gaining special abilities, combining previous studies, or traveling the world. Unfortunately, there is not enough scientific information and research to explain the parapsychological side of increased brain power.