• Question: Is it true that your brain is made of water

    Asked by to Ian on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ian Simpson

      Ian Simpson answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      Sometimes I do wonder if mine is 😉

      There are lots of cells, fibre tracts, connective tissue, blood vessels etc.. in there as well.

      The human body does have a very high water content although estimates vary as it’s quite difficult to measure and differs between people. The widely cited figures are that the average human body water content is about 60%, but the range is from about 40% up to about 75%.

      The brain itself is a lot less variable in total although different parts of the brain have different quantities of water in them. Averaging across the brain this gives a value of about 75%. So there’s a lot of water in there which is of course essential for both structure and function, but the bulk of the work is done by the 25% that isn’t !

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