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What Do You Know?
How fast do nerve impulses travel through your brain? Try this. Ask someone to drop a ruler between your thumb and forefinger. You must react quickly without knowing when it will be released. Measure in inches how much of the ruler has fallen before you catch it. This is the sequence of events. You see the ruler move and visual messages travel along the optic nerve into your brain. The brain reacts and sends a message to your hand. Both electrical transmission (along nerves) and slower chemical transmission (at synapses) are in action here, and the whole process may be over in 0.2 second. The fastest nerve cells are carrying messages along their axons at an amazing 130 yards per second (268 mph)! From BIG HEAD! A Book About Your Brain and Your Head, Rowan 1998. Try these other quizzes! |
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