🧠 QuizNeuroscience10 questions~5 min
Neuromyths: separate fact from fiction
"We only use 10% of our brain", "I'm more right-brained"… These ideas are everywhere, including among teachers. For each statement, choose the answer that best fits the scientific data.
An educational quiz, with no medical value.
What this content is based on
Each answer is backed by one or more published studies. Where science is divided (adult neurogenesis, the Mozart effect), the right answer is the one that describes the disagreement, not the one that rules on it.
Reviewed in 2026-10
Going further: read the article : Neuroplasticity — what it really means (and what it doesn't)
References
- Azevedo, F. A. C., Carvalho, L. R. B., Grinberg, L. T., et al. (2009). Equal numbers of neuronal and nonneuronal cells make the human brain an isometrically scaled-up primate brain. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 513(5), 532–541. DOI PubMed
- Raichle, M. E., & Gusnard, D. A. (2002). Appraising the brain's energy budget. PNAS, 99(16), 10237–10239. DOI PubMed
- Nielsen, J. A., Zielinski, B. A., Ferguson, M. A., Lainhart, J. E., & Anderson, J. S. (2013). An evaluation of the left-brain vs. right-brain hypothesis with resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging. PLoS ONE, 8(8), e71275. DOI PubMed
- Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105–119. DOI PubMed
- Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., & Ky, K. N. (1993). Music and spatial task performance. Nature, 365, 611.
- Pietschnig, J., Voracek, M., & Formann, A. K. (2010). Mozart effect–Shmozart effect: A meta-analysis. Intelligence, 38(3), 314–323.
- Oberleiter, S., & Pietschnig, J. (2023). Unfounded authority, underpowered studies, and non-transparent reporting perpetuate the Mozart effect myth: A multiverse meta-analysis. Scientific Reports, 13, 3175. DOI PubMed
- Spalding, K. L., Bergmann, O., Alkass, K., et al. (2013). Dynamics of hippocampal neurogenesis in adult humans. Cell, 153(6), 1219–1227. DOI PubMed
- Sorrells, S. F., Paredes, M. F., Cebrian-Silla, A., et al. (2018). Human hippocampal neurogenesis drops sharply in children to undetectable levels in adults. Nature, 555, 377–381. DOI PubMed
- Simons, D. J., Boot, W. R., Charness, N., et al. (2016). Do "brain-training" programs work? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(3), 103–186. DOI PubMed
- Maguire, E. A., Gadian, D. G., Johnsrude, I. S., et al. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. PNAS, 97(8), 4398–4403. DOI PubMed
- Woollett, K., & Maguire, E. A. (2011). Acquiring "the Knowledge" of London's layout drives structural brain changes. Current Biology, 21(24), 2109–2114. DOI PubMed
- Xie, L., Kang, H., Xu, Q., et al. (2013). Sleep drives metabolite clearance from the adult brain. Science, 342(6156), 373–377.
- Dekker, S., Lee, N. C., Howard-Jones, P., & Jolles, J. (2012). Neuromyths in education: Prevalence and predictors of misconceptions among teachers. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 429.
References checked via PubMed (National Library of Medicine). DOI links lead to the original publications.