How Many Calories Does Thinking Burn ?

neilep · « **on:** 01/12/2008 02:50:07 »

Dearest Thinkologists, Cogito ergo sum and fans of Descartes,

As a sheepy I of course am an established thinker, I sit there, reading Hustler , whilst pushing a dog egg out and thinking how big a splash I can make if I follow through with ebullient zest !..Oh I’m a ~~stinker~~ thinker alright !

Look, here’s a brain doing some thinking

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Nice eh ? Being delivered and installed into a creation of mine atop a high mountain during a thunderstorm next Tuesday !

So, thinking burns calories eh ?...That’s nice.

How many calories does thinking burn ?..does it depend o the subject matter ?...does it depend on how hard I am thinking ?..what about dreaming ?...does dreaming burn calories ?

Put your thinking caps on will ya and help me out, I’d ask my neighbour but he still has his head up a cows arse !...Hmm..I wonder what he’s thinking about !

Hugs and shmishes

Mwah mwah mwah

Neil
I question, therefore I do not know
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

RD · « **Reply #1 on:** 01/12/2008 03:15:47 »

The consensus is that the human brain uses energy at a rate of 20 Watts.

Energy consumption of 20 Watts is 20 Joules per second.

A Kilocalorie = Calorie = 4184 Joules.

So a human brain uses a (Kilo)Calorie of energy in about 3.5 minutes.

Chemistry4me · « **Reply #2 on:** 01/12/2008 07:09:21 »

20 Watts!! Is that on cruise mode or at its maximum capacity?

RD · « **Reply #3 on:** 01/12/2008 07:53:21 »

Quote from: Chemistry4me on 01/12/2008 07:09:21

20 Watts!! Is that on cruise mode or at its maximum capacity?

Yes we are all as bright a 20 Watt bulb. [

]

Not much difference in energy consumption between housekeeping (e.g. when asleep) and active (e.g. performing a task)...

Quote

Brain Signal Persists Even in Dreamless Sleep 02.10.2008

Neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have taken one of the first direct looks at one of the human brain's most fundamental "foundations": a brain signal that never switches off and may support many cognitive functions...

"The brain consumes a tremendous amount of the body's energy resources—it's only 2 percent of body weight, but it uses about 20 percent of the energy we take in," says Raichle. "When we started to ask where all those resources were being spent, we found that the goal-oriented tasks we had studied previously only accounted for a tiny portion of that energy budget. The rest appears to go into activities and processes that maintain a state of readiness in the brain."

http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/medicine_health/brain_signal_persists_dreamless_sleep_119473.html

neilep · « **Reply #4 on:** 01/12/2008 12:21:53 »

Thank ewe very much RD for this great information...20 calories eh ?

That's not so bad, so whilst I have been asking the question about the calorific usage of the brain I have in fact been burning more fat !...great !

Don_1 · « **Reply #5 on:** 01/12/2008 16:10:14 »

That's got me thinking.........OUCH! That hurts.

If I stick a 20 watt bulb in my left ear, will it light up?

lyner · « **Reply #6 on:** 01/12/2008 17:23:37 »

A Mars Bar would let you do an awful lot of thinking then.
..... Thinking about the next one, perhaps?

Don_1 · « **Reply #7 on:** 01/12/2008 17:45:21 »

So I stick a Mars bar in my left ear and that will light up, right?

Chemistry4me · « **Reply #8 on:** 01/12/2008 22:08:23 »

I was just wondering if you could EVER stop thinking? When I try to do it I always notice myself holding my breath, maybe my brain stopped thinking for a second and turned many/every thing(s) off. You should try and stop thinking. Not that it probably helps burn many calories...

lyner · « **Reply #9 on:** 01/12/2008 22:40:41 »

I think the best you can do is to think about stopping thinking.

Madidus_Scientia · « **Reply #10 on:** 02/12/2008 10:14:11 »

I wonder how they measured it?

RD · « **Reply #11 on:** 02/12/2008 12:02:58 »

Quote from: Madidus_Scientia on 02/12/2008 10:14:11

I wonder how they measured it?

Blood flow...

Quote

The brain makes up 2% of a person's weight. Despite this, even at rest, the brain consumes 20% of the body's energy. The brain consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the rest of the body per gram of tissue. The average power consumption of a typical adult is 100 Watts and the brain consumes 20% of this making the power of the brain 20 W.

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/JacquelineLing.shtml

The total energy consumption (~100W) can be calculated by measuring the composition and volume of gases exhaled,
(using a respirometer).

Karen W. · « **Reply #12 on:** 03/12/2008 08:12:38 »

Quote from: Chemistry4me on 01/12/2008 22:08:23

I was just wondering if you could EVER stop thinking? When I try to do it I always notice myself holding my breath, maybe my brain stopped thinking for a second and turned many/every thing(s) off. You should try and stop thinking. Not that it probably helps burn many calories...

Sorry But if you are consciously TRYING to stop thinking then you are thinking EH???Because Trying in and of itself is thinking!

Me think its about impossible to stop thinking unless you are brain dead? Just my opinion.. oh you can concentrate on white walls etc etc meditating is thinking also so as I see it and perhaps you found out it is basically impossible!

lyner · « **Reply #13 on:** 03/12/2008 09:18:22 »

It's like staying awake in order to spot the instant when you drop off to sleep.

Don_1 · « **Reply #14 on:** 03/12/2008 09:51:16 »

Quote from: Karen W. on 03/12/2008 08:12:38

Me think its about impossible to stop thinking unless you are brain dead?

I resemble that remark!

Karen W. · « **Reply #15 on:** 03/12/2008 10:04:46 »

Quote from: sophiecentaur on 03/12/2008 09:18:22

It's like staying awake in order to spot the instant when you drop off to sleep.

LOL Exactly! LOL...

Karen W. · « **Reply #16 on:** 03/12/2008 10:07:12 »

Quote from: Don_1 on 03/12/2008 09:51:16

Quote from: Karen W. on 03/12/2008 08:12:38

Me think its about impossible to stop thinking unless you are brain dead?

I resemble that remark!

How do you resemble it? I do suppose it was a very sensible remark really..so Are you a sensible looking guy? Why don't you post a picture for me to see what you mean??? LOL HEE HEE HEE...

Don_1 · « **Reply #17 on:** 03/12/2008 11:10:03 »

Here you are Karen.......

The Numbskulls from The Beezer comic

Karen W. · « **Reply #18 on:** 03/12/2008 11:58:32 »

LOL...LOL... very funny.. thanks for the chuckles...

neilep · « **Reply #19 on:** 03/12/2008 14:26:14 »

Quote from: Don_1 on 01/12/2008 16:10:14

That's got me thinking.........OUCH! That hurts.

If I stick a 20 watt bulb in my left ear, will it light up?

Why yes, yes it will !!

How Many Calories Does Thinking Burn ?

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