menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Are Humans Really Born With Empty Brains? Science Has an Answer.

14 0
16.05.2026

Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

Are Humans Really Born With Empty Brains? Science Has an Answer.

Maybe our brains are blank Word docs that we load with valuable information over time. Or maybe not.

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

Sometimes we tend to think of our brains like a very complicated computer hard drive. When you first buy one, it’s a clean slate waiting for data to be dumped onto it over time. But is that actually true for a human brain? Are babies born as empty storage devices waiting for life to install software onto them? Or do our brains arrive with some information already preloaded, like naturally occurring bloatware?

According to a recent study of mice published in Nature Communications, the answer may lean closer to us coming home fresh from the factory with some preloaded bloatware on board.

Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria studied mouse........

© Vice