{"id":4173,"date":"2013-02-07T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2013-02-07T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=4173"},"modified":"2013-02-06T15:14:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-06T20:14:00","slug":"brain-dead-why-you-cant-use-that-excuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/02\/brain-dead-why-you-cant-use-that-excuse.html","title":{"rendered":"Brain Dead? Why You Can&#8217;t Use That Excuse!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.freedigitalphotos.net\/images\/agree-terms.php?id=10083243\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-4178\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2013\/02\/2-brain-dead.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"264\" \/><\/a>Ever heard this conversation between two people at work?<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8221; I am so brain dead, I can&#8217;t do another thing today.&#8221; &#8220;I know, right. We are way overworked. And I heard that we only use 90% of our brains! I think mine is maxed out! &#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>How many times have you heard someone say that we only use a fraction of our brain?<\/p>\n<p>How many of you believe this to be true?<\/p>\n<p>Ok now put down your hand &#8211;if you said, YES!<\/p>\n<p>You believe a popular myth perpetuated by many sources, e.g.,a 20th century, misquoted psychologist, who suggested that humans don&#8217;t take advantage of their full mental resources; William James who said we use only a fraction of our brains, etc. \u00a0Through the years, pop culture has concluded that we only use a fraction of our brains.<\/p>\n<p>The truth is that we use all of our brains, 100% of the time. Imaging (MRI) confirms that all areas of the brain are wired and active.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Paul Aravich, Professor of Pathology and Anatomy at Easter Virginia Medical School, tells us that the brain is in constant use, even when we sleep. In fact, the brain is more active in REM sleep that when we are awake.<\/p>\n<p>The \u00a0&#8220;brain dead&#8221; excuse doesn&#8217;t cut it!\u00a0Even when we do nothing, the brain continues to work.<\/p>\n<p>No the next time you tell someone to, Use It Or Lose It, think again &#8230;wait you already are, you can&#8217;t lose it even when you don&#8217;t use it, because you are already using it!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever heard this conversation between two people at work? &#8221; I am so brain dead, I can&#8217;t do another thing today.&#8221; &#8220;I know, right. We are way overworked. And I heard that we only use 90% of our brains! I think mine is maxed out! &#8221;\u00a0 How many times have you heard someone say that&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1057],"tags":[2039,2042,2038,2040,2043,2041],"class_list":["post-4173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-work-relationships","tag-brain-activity","tag-brain-use-myth","tag-brian-dead","tag-myths-about-health","tag-use-it-or-lose-it","tag-using-your-brain"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Brain Dead? Why You Can&#039;t Use That Excuse!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/02\/brain-dead-why-you-cant-use-that-excuse.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brain Dead? Why You Can&#039;t Use That Excuse!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever heard this conversation between two people at work? &#8221; I am so brain dead, I can&#8217;t do another thing today.&#8221; &#8220;I know, right. We are way overworked. And I heard that we only use 90% of our brains! I think mine is maxed out! &#8221;\u00a0 How many times have you heard someone say that&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/02\/brain-dead-why-you-cant-use-that-excuse.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-07T13:00:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-06T20:14:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2013\/02\/2-brain-dead.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Brain Dead? 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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