Could you stick a magnet to your brain?

No.

Lets say yes you can, what are you going to do with it?

Try it and see…

I suppose you could, but it would attract unwanted attention & may repel your clarity of thought.

MRIs wouldnt work if you could… I mean I supose you could use super glue.

Maybe really really tiny iron fillings, but doubtfully anything you can see.

Some doctors use transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression. It has to do with stimulating the neurons.

Maybe you could shine a light through it. At a very fundamental level, light is “like” electricity in the same way that you seem to think magnetism is “like” electricity.

I would not recommend that you try it, though. Think how embarrassed you’d be if someone else saw you shine a light through your brain.

Would the magnet in your brain not repel the magnet approaching your head?

@Stinley In that case, you can simply turn the other pole of the magnet towards the brain so that it attracts, isn’t it? ;)

Secondly, could it be the magnet in the brains of the birds that helps them like a compass to know directions?

@cadetjoecool wrote: ’‘Now according to physics electricity is the same thing as magnetism. So your brain must be somewhat magnetic, Right?’’
Wrong. Your basic assumption is wrong so there is no way to answer this question. Please read more about physics.

@cazzie Electromagnetism is a fact isn’t it?
Magnetism is produced by an electric current. Electric current flows through our nervous system. Hence, it will produce magnetism.

Electromagnetism is a magnet run on electricity. It is NOT electricity alone.

edit… sorry… My English failed…. I’ll get a better answer up shortly. (I thought you ment an electo-magnet… not the force of nature. stand by..)

@krrazypassions

You should be embarrassing yourself. What you’re saying when you say that “electricity produces magnetism” is analogous to saying that “steam produces electricity”. Do you think that you can run your alarm clock by throwing it into a pot of boiling water, then?

Yes, electricity helps to create electromagnetism, when the current is directed in shaped coils around an iron bar. It’s not automatic, just like “electricity produced from steam” is also not automatic. There is technology involved that you can’t just wish away.

@cazzie A magnet running on electricity is called an electromagnet.
When a current flows through a wire, and you keep a magnetic needle near it, we observed a deflection of the needle. Similarly, we can see the magnetic field generated by an electric field by placing iron filing on a sheet of paper which is kept above a live wire. The iron filings rearrange themselves in exactly same way as they would when kept over a magnet. That’s how people found out that electricity and magnetism are two aspects of the same thing.
We have been producing electricity from generators which have huge magnets at their core.

@WasCy The relationship between electricity and magnetism is two-way. They always go hand in hand. We cannot separate them. Its not analogous to steam and electricity example. While steam can produce electricity and electricity can be used to produce steam, we can have both have them separately. You don’t necessarily need one to have another.

@krrazypassions we do NOT create electricity with magnets, but motors (like those in your vacuum cleaner) run with the help of an oscillating magnetic field created by a coil of copper wire that is powered by…. da da!! Electricity. You have a chicken and egg problem.

Same with your idea that we have generators that make electricity with huge magnets… yes.. we do, but FIRST we need the kinetic energy for those generators to make the electricity… usually in the form of hydro dams, sometimes steam.

@WasCy @cazzie Please don’t confuse between an electromagnet and electromagnetism. The latter is a much larger concept and applied greatly everywhere.

@cazzie You always need some form of energy to generate other form of energy. That’s basic physics. The question is, how can you convert kinetic energy into electric energy. And the solution is provided by magnets and the principles of electromagnet-ism

@WasCy @cazzie To save you further embarrassment, please go through this simple article for kids. Especially the first few lines
Uses of magnets

gone

oh well, my joke failed

Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism manifests as both electric fields and magnetic fields. Both fields are simply different aspects of electromagnetism, and hence are intrinsically related. Thus, a changing electric field generates a magnetic field; conversely a changing magnetic field generates an electric field. This effect is called electromagnetic induction, and is the basis of operation for electrical generators, induction motors, and transformers. Mathematically speaking, magnetic fields and electric fields are convertible with relative motion as a four vector.

@cadetjoecool While sticking a magnet to the brain like sticking it to your fridge wont really work unless the magnet is very very tiny, brain does get affected by magnets! And electromagnetism is at the root of it all! Brain can thus get affected by anything that is electromagnetic and strong enough to impose any visible effect!
See: Magnets Can Manipulate Morality
Magnets may make the brain grow stronger
Also, google (magnets and brain)

Really strong electromagnets do indeed mess with your brain. For example (seen this in an episode of Nova ScienceNow) you will start talking gibberish without knowing it, and become unable to count.

There are more entertaining ways to go blind. I think a strong magnet might be harmful.

Actually yes, you can.
Deaf people use a cochlear implant, which is connected by a magnet. Thou, you would need to have surgey to actually use the device.

Maybe if you were in a room that was at subzero temperatures especially designed for superconductors.

There is some [actual scientific] evidence that the use of electromagnets can alter certain cognitive processes to some degree.