10 Fascinating Things We’re Only Just Beginning to Understand About the Human Body

While we often look to the ocean's depths or outer space for groundbreaking discoveries, we tend to think we know our own bodies quite well. Yet, there’s still so much we’re only now uncovering about ourselves.

10. How The Brain Organizes Information

We’ve known for ages that the brain stores information, but the precise mechanics of this process remained a mystery. Thanks to brain scans, we can now observe which regions of the brain light up when exposed to specific stimuli—like when we watch cat videos or tackle a crossword puzzle. However, it wasn’t until one woman lost her ability to name animals that we started to unravel how knowledge is actually categorized in the brain.

The patient, referred to as J.B.R. to maintain her privacy, was suffering from herpes simplex encephalitis, which caused an unusual symptom: category-specific memory loss. In simple terms, she could no longer recall the names of animals. When tested, she could only identify 2 out of 48 creatures, but her knowledge of inanimate objects remained intact. Other patients with the same illness exhibited similar memory gaps, though the categories they forgot varied. Most of them struggled with living things, while some had trouble remembering vegetables, plants, or insects—but could still recognize items like trucks and briefcases.

Some patients lost all knowledge of a specific category. In one case, when shown a drawing, a patient couldn’t tell whether mythical, hybrid animals like polar bears with horse heads actually existed.

We’ve gained a clearer picture of how the brain organizes information. Think of it like a filing system, where similar types of knowledge are stored in the same regions. We have specific areas for categories like food, geography, animals, and even people we know. If the temporal lobe is damaged, it can erase one category while leaving the others untouched. In some cases, a disease can slowly destroy categories one by one, making it increasingly difficult for a person to recall information in those areas. People with semantic dementia gradually lose pieces of knowledge in particular categories, but their understanding in other areas remains unaffected.

9. A Newly Discovered Layer In The Human Eye

Researchers recently identified a new layer in the human cornea, bringing the total to six distinct layers. This discovery was made by scientists working with donated eyes, who injected microscopic air bubbles into the cornea to separate its layers. Once the process was complete, they confirmed the presence of this thin yet resilient layer.

This newly discovered layer not only impacts eye surgeries but is also believed to be linked to a number of persistent eye conditions. For example, corneal hydrops, a condition marked by fluid buildup between the cornea and the rest of the eye, is now thought to result from a tear in the Dua’s layer.

8. What Causes the Brain to Have Wrinkles?

The brain’s ridges and wrinkles, known as gyri and sulci, are shaped by several factors. The growth of the brain’s gray matter and its thickness play a significant role in the development of these folds. The human brain consists of both gray and white matter, and researchers have been conducting numerous experiments on similar tissues to formulate a way to replicate the appearance of brain wrinkles. Understanding how these wrinkles form is crucial for developing treatments for conditions where the brain develops abnormally.

Researchers have found that gray matter and white matter are comparable in stiffness, but they grow at distinct rates. When the brain’s size is taken into account, scientists can determine what its natural growth pattern should look like. The bigger the brain, the greater the difference between the growth rates. As gray matter expands, it causes the brain—constrained by white matter—to fold and develop ridges, which in turn increases surface area. The brain also has to work within specific limits, ensuring that certain regions stay interconnected.

7. Gut Microbiota

A team from the Radboud University Medical Centre has uncovered what is likely the most common virus within the human body, naming it crAssphage—for reasons that may make you cringe.

Examining the various microorganisms in a person’s digestive system presents a unique challenge. Many of these microbes won’t thrive in lab conditions, as they prefer living within the human body. This means researchers rely on a somewhat unconventional source—stool samples. They break these samples down into their fundamental components, reassemble the DNA sequences, and then face the painstaking task of sorting which sequences belong to which microorganism. This arduous process eventually led to the identification of crAssphage. The virus is named after the cross-assembly process that was used to reconstruct its DNA.

What exactly do crAssphages do? We're not entirely sure, but the researchers who discovered them believe they may be involved with the bacteria responsible for breaking down substances in the stomach. Beyond that, the role of crAssphages remains unclear. However, the researchers did find that around 75% of the DNA sequences they discovered in stool samples couldn’t be linked to any known organism.

6. The Rediscovery of a Brain Structure

Every now and then, references to a particular nerve bundle would appear in scientific texts. Despite this, it was largely overlooked and forgotten, and researchers managed to trace its obscure history back to a scientific dispute.

In the 19th century, neuropathologist Theodor Meynert published substantial work claiming that nerve bundles in the brain ran horizontally. The controversy arose when his student, Carl Wernicke, identified the same bundle that researchers at the University of Washington had found—a bundle running vertically in the brain. Meynert rejected the existence of this bundle and refused to acknowledge it, as it contradicted his previously published theories.

The bundle of fibers remained largely undiscovered for over a century due to its omission from earlier studies. It is now known that these fibers play a vital role in how the brain processes visual information, specifically in separating the 'what' aspect from the directional and spatial components of that information.

5. The Stronger the Smell as We Age

But the signature body odor isn’t the only curious discovery we’re making about smell. There is now scientific evidence to back up the idea that the older someone gets, the stronger their odor becomes. A compound known as 2-Nonenal has been identified as the cause of a faintly greasy smell that is common in people over the age of 40. The older you get, the more of this substance your body produces. While sweat itself doesn’t have a strong odor, it’s the bacteria that reacts with sweat that causes the smell. The increasing presence of 2-Nonenal in the body is proof that older individuals do, indeed, have a distinct, ‘funny’ smell.

4. The Newly Identified Knee Ligament

Recent findings reveal that conventional ACL surgery missed a critical aspect of knee injury treatment: a missing ligament. The anterolateral ligament (ALL) has been identified as one of the ligaments commonly torn during injury. Surgeons had not recognized it, leading to a knee that remained unstable and prone to shifting even after surgery.

Although a French surgeon first referred to this ligament in 1879, it wasn’t until 2013 that it was definitively discovered. Belgian researchers confirmed its presence in nearly all 41 knees studied, offering an explanation for why 20% of individuals with knee injuries do not fully recover. While some see this as a major medical breakthrough, others are more reserved in their response.

3. The On-Off Switch of Consciousness

The claustrum is a key region of the brain that researchers recently discovered to have a significant role in consciousness. In an experiment involving a woman with epilepsy, deep brain stimulation was applied to this region to observe its effects. The result was nothing short of remarkable: stimulating the claustrum caused her consciousness to flicker on and off. When the stimulation stopped, she regained awareness, yet had no recollection of the state she had been in.

Although researchers remain cautious, they are starting to theorize about the potential role of the claustrum in integrating sensory and cognitive experiences. This brain region seems to be responsible for uniting various components of our perception—sight, smell, taste, thoughts, and memories—into a cohesive sense of self.

The implications of these findings are profound. If the claustrum is indeed the key to human consciousness, this could pave the way for developing artificial consciousness. Researchers could reverse engineer the processes of the human brain to replicate consciousness in machines. Additionally, it may offer clearer definitions of when consciousness arises, such as the moment a fetus becomes conscious, and raise questions about whether animals share similar forms of awareness as humans.

2. Our Bodies On Meditation

For years, regular meditation has been said to help individuals manage their stress, control their thoughts, and regulate their emotional responses. MRI scans have confirmed these benefits. After eight weeks of consistent meditation practice, changes were observed in the brain, including a reduction in the amount of gray matter, especially in the amygdala. This part of the brain is crucial for the fight-or-flight response that governs how we react to perceived threats.

Along with the reduction in the amygdala's size, the brain’s connections to this area start to diminish. As these links weaken, the pre-frontal cortex, the region that oversees conscious decision-making, expands. This change means we're more likely to focus on making thoughtful, reasoned decisions rather than reacting impulsively to stress. Meditation is distinct in that it combines enhanced focus with a reduction in the fight-or-flight system’s intensity.

Ultimately, frequent meditation reprograms our brains to depend more on logical, deliberate decision-making than on instinctive reactions. It also boosts our ability to handle pain, which helps explain why regular meditators tend to have a higher pain tolerance and report fewer symptoms when faced with illness or disorders. Achieving a 'Zen' state isn't merely about relaxation—it’s a physical shift in how our brains respond to various triggers.

1. Parts Of The Body Age Differently And Our Brains Can Outlive Us

Researchers uncovered distinct aging patterns by studying tissue samples through the lens of methylation patterns. Methylation refers to chemical groupings within cells; the more methylated a tissue is, the older it appears. Some cancerous tissues were found to be as much as 36 years older than an individual's calendar age, according to these patterns.

In a groundbreaking twist, scientists are now suggesting that our brains might actually outlive us. A team at the University of Pavia in Italy is exploring ways to extend human lifespan. However, an important question arises: will people retain their quality of life as they live longer? Their research hints that the answer might be yes.

In one fascinating experiment, scientists transplanted neurons from mice into rat fetuses. Since rats typically live longer than mice, the study allowed researchers to see how long the mouse neurons could survive without the constraints of the mouse body. After the rats passed away, their brains were examined, revealing that the mouse neurons remained alive and functional. This suggests that it’s not our brains that age prematurely, but rather our bodies that limit their longevity.