I love “fun facts.”

At trial they're a nice way to break the ice with the jury (and everyone in the courtroom) at the start of the day.

They’re interesting and usually lead to further investigation.

Today’s newsletter is going to take a Fun Facts format. But before we get to the Fun Facts, it’s important for you to have a have a reference diagram.

This is a brain cell (also called a neuron):

You’re probably going to need to refer back to the diagram. (I know I do.)

So here are the Fun Facts:

• There are 1,000,000,000,000,000 (one quadrillion) synapses in the human brain.

• There are 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) glial cells in the human brain.

• There are 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons in the human brain.

• A single neuron has 10,000 synapse connections.

• Neurons are the oldest cells in the body. Most neurons are already present at birth.

• Neurons are the longest cells in the body. Some are over three feet long.

• The brain requires more of the body’s energy than any other organ. About one-fifth of the body’s entire blood supply is consumed by the brain.

The number of component parts is hard to comprehend. All of that circuitry gives the ability to solve problems, regulate the rest of our body and fall in love.

But what really hits home for me is the Fun Fact regarding power consumption. The brain seems so insignificant compared, e.g., the heart. But there it is consuming more energy than the heart and demanding a fifth of our entire blood supply.

That really underscores is why an injury to the brain (even if it’s characterized as “mild”) has such a strong connection to things like fatigue and endurance. Because the brain is the largest power consumer even small inefficiencies have a huge impact.

When someone suffers a brain injury, all of the other systems in the body are going to feel the effect.