Do you really only use 10 percent of your brain?

You’ve heard it said that we only use a tiny percentage of our brain, the implication being that if we could just access all of those unused cells, we could maybe become superheroes.

But is it true?

According to neuroscientist Ben Rein, it is not true.

Rein told Popular Mechanics that every person constantly uses 100 percent of their brain. If people only used 10 percent, they would be zombies since that much only covers basic bodily functions like breathing.

The brain uses a lot of the body’s resources, Rein says. In fact, it uses up to 20 percent of the body’s oxygen and glucose.

Brain scientists have examined the brain with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and never found any dormant brain parts. The brain is active most of the time.

The brain use myth probably started around 1936 in self-help books that said we didn’t use all of our brain power. Not that portions of our brain went unused.