The Brain and Learning

The human brain is the largest organised structure in the universe – an extravagant claim, but true. It contains 100,000 million (10¹¹) neurones and four times that number of supporting ‘glial’ cells. Each neurone makes on average 10,000 connections with other neurones. In other words, there are 1,000 million million connections in the brain (10¹⁵). This means that the brain can make more possible combinations of connections than there are particles in the whole universe. So the human brain is indeed the largest organised structure in the universe. Yet all these connections are fundamen- tally organised to perform only the three vital behavioural functions of all animals: finding food and water, self-preservation and procreation.