The three most complex parts of the brain

The shape and size of the brain varies greatly between species, and identifying common features is often difficult.

But your brain is doing a lot more than just remembering formulas. Those sweaty palms you get as the test starts? And yes, your brain is even in charge when you take a minute to daydream about the big party on Friday night.

The brain may simply be the bossiest part of the body: It controls what you think and feel, how you learn and remember, and the way you move. It does this via the spinal cord, which runs from the brain down through the back and contains threadlike nerves that branch out to every organ and body part.

When a message comes into the brain from anywhere in the body, the brain tells the body how to react. For example, if you accidentally touch a hot stove, the nerves in your skin shoot a message of pain to your brain.

The brain then sends a message back telling the muscles in your hand to pull away. Luckily, this neurological relay race takes a lot less time than it just took to read about it!

How the Brain Works Considering everything it does, the human brain is incredibly compact, weighing just 3 pounds.

It extends from the lower part of the brain down through spine. Along the way, various nerves branch out to the entire body. Both the brain and the spinal cord are protected by bone: This fluid helps protect the nerve tissue, keep it healthy, and remove waste products.

The brain is made up of three main sections: The Forebrain The forebrain is the largest and most complex part of the brain.

It consists of the cerebrum — the area with all the folds and grooves typically seen in pictures of the brain — as well as some other structures beneath it. The cerebrum contains the information that essentially makes us who we are: Specific areas of the cerebrum are in charge of processing these different types of information.

These are called lobes, and there are four of them: The cerebrum has right and left halves, called hemispheres, which are connected in the middle by a band of nerve fibers the corpus callosum that enables the two sides to communicate.

Although these halves may look like mirror images of each other, many scientists believe they have different functions. The left side is considered the logical, analytical, objective side. The right side is thought to be more intuitive, creative, and subjective.

Scientists think that some people are more "right-brained" or "left-brained" while others are more "whole-brained," meaning they use both halves of their brain to the same degree. The outer layer of the cerebrum is called the cortex also known as "gray matter".

Information collected by the five senses comes into the brain from the spinal cord to the cortex. This information is then directed to other parts of the nervous system for further processing.

For example, when you touch the hot stove, not only does a message go out to move your hand but one also goes to another part of the brain to help you remember not to do that again. In the inner part of the forebrain sit the thalamus, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland. The thalamus carries messages from the sensory organs like the eyes, ears, nose, and fingers to the cortex.

The hypothalamus controls body temperature, thirst, appetite, sleep patterns, and other processes in our bodies that happen automatically.

It also controls the pituitary gland, which makes the hormones that control our growth, metabolism, water and mineral balance, sexual maturity, and how we respond to stress. The Midbrain The midbrain, located underneath the middle of the forebrain, acts as a master coordinator for all the messages going in and out of the brain to the spinal cord.

The Hindbrain The hindbrain sits underneath the back end of the cerebrum, and it consists of the cerebellum, pons, and medulla. The cerebellum — also called the "little brain" because it looks like a small version of the cerebrum — is responsible for balance, movement, and coordination.

The pons and the medulla, along with the midbrain, are often called the brainstem. How the Nervous System Works The basic functioning of the nervous system depends a lot on tiny cells called neurons. The brain has billions of them, and they have many specialized jobs.

For example, sensory neurons take information from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin to the brain. Motor neurons carry messages away from the brain and back to the rest of the body. All neurons relay information to each other through a complex electrochemical process, making connections that affect the way we think, learn, move, and behave.

Intelligence, Learning, and Memory When you learn things, messages travel from one neuron to another, over and over. Then the brain creates connections or pathways between the neurons, so things become easier and you can do them better and better.The Brain & Nervous System in Everyday Life.

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The brain is made up of three main sections: the forebrain, the midbrain, and the hindbrain. The Forebrain. The forebrain is the largest and most complex part of the brain.

The triune brain is a model of the evolution of the vertebrate forebrain and behavior, proposed by the American physician and neuroscientist Paul D. regardbouddhiste.comn originally formulated his model in the s and propounded it at length in his book The Triune Brain in Evolution.

The triune brain consists of the reptilian complex, the paleomammalian complex (limbic system), and the. The most important and perhaps the most complex organ of human body is the brain. It controls all senses and functions of the body. middle or back areas of skull, the human brain can be divided into three major parts, namely, forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain.

the brainstem is the posterior most part of the brain that extends backward. The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. The brain is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as regardbouddhiste.com brain is the most complex organ in a vertebrate's body.

In a human, the cerebral cortex contains approximately 10–20 billion neurons, and the estimated number of neurons in. The most illogical or irrational “wants” we have probably derive from older parts of our brain, while the understanding of smart versus dumb choices comes from the newest part.

If that idea offends you, or seems just too “Western” or scientific”, you might take a “de-tour” for . the largest and most complex part of the human brain responsible for our most complex mental activities including learning, remembering, thinking, and consciousness.

Cerebral cortex is made up of densely packed neurons, individual cells, that receive, integrate, and transmit information, sometimes referred to as gray matter.