The Number of Neurons in the Brain: How We Report What We Do Not Know

Abstract

Physiological chapters from 31 introductory psychology textbooks were examined for information concerning the number of neurons in the human brain and how many neurons die each day. Almost all text authors reported definite answers to these complex and, as yet, unanswered questions. The answers differed with respect to the number of neurons, but there was uniform agreement about how many die. We comment on the importance of the problem of false certainty and discuss how misinformation may be reported and passed from text to text. We also suggest possible solutions to the problem.