How the Brain Works: The Different Parts of the Brain and What They Do
The brain is one of the most complex organs in the human body, with a connection between 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses or neurons. One of the biggest mysteries of today’s science is how all these neurons and synapses communicate to give us unique personalities, skills, memories and behaviors. Although scientists still do not fully understand how the brain works, there are numerous studies that have provided detailed information on how our cells work at the cellular level and how different parts of the brain control different activities in our body.
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| The Brain |
The human brain is undoubtedly one of nature's best creations. This complex organ contains an estimated 100 billion nerve cells and dozens of different chemicals. But what does it all mean? And how does it affect our daily lives? In today’s post, we’ll look at a brief description of how your brain works and what happens when things go wrong.
Cerebrum - Controls voluntary action
The largest part of your brain, it is responsible for voluntary movements and emotions. It is divided into two hemispheres which are responsible for different functions such as conscious movement (opposite) or language (ipsilateral). There is a part called corpus callosum that works to connect both hemispheres. This allows for communication between them, but there may be noticeable defects such as unilateral negligence or aphasia with lesions in this area. There is also another field called corpus stratum which plays an important role in controlling motor function as well as inhibiting action.
Medulla oblongata - controls the autonomic function
Breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion and sexual arousal. It also has a role in pain perception. Most importantly it controls the reflection and is also responsible for unconscious action. The medulla connects to all these bodily functions using nerve cells called abalangata neurons. Nerve cells build the functionality of your brain; These are like computer chips that control everything you think, feel or do. Nerve cells transmit messages through synapses, a space between neurons where chemicals are released during the transmission of messages between neurons.
Epithalamus - Controls eye movement, body temperature, appetite, thirst, sleep
The epithelium regulates body temperature, appetite, thirst, sleep patterns, and eye movements. It also helps to manage emotions. For example, when you are sad or blue, it tells your brain to cry. But it makes you smile when you are happy. Diseases associated with abnormal epithelium include epilepsy (convulsions), insomnia (insomnia) and narcolepsy (uncontrolled sleep attacks). Epilepsy is usually a symptom of a disorder of the brain or other part of the brain stem. Symptoms can range from mild to severe convulsions that can last from a few seconds to a few minutes which can occur several times a day or once every few months.
Hypothalamus - regulates the autonomic nervous system's response to stress
The hypothalamus helps control a person's autonomic nervous system's response to stress. When people experience intense stress or danger, a portion of their hypothalamus called the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) begins to pump neurotransmitters such as adrenaline and cortisol. In addition to helping a person respond quickly in times of danger, these neurotransmitters increase their heart rate, they begin to breathe faster, and their blood pressure rises. Their students can also expand so that they can learn more about their surroundings. All of these responses are programmed into our bodies because they help us when we are threatened by invading wild animals or armed robbers.
Pituitary gland - produces a number of hormones that stimulate or suppress other endocrine glands
Your hypothalamus, located deep in your brain, secretes hormones that travel through your bloodstream to stimulate or suppress other endocrine glands. An example is the secretion of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), which travels through your bloodstream to be secreted into your thyroid gland. There it signals release in T3 and T4 conduction. Similarly, another hormone (e.g., luteinizing hormone) can stimulate your ovaries to produce progesterone which will be passed on through urine; But only when it is supposed to - not before ovulation!
Corpus callosum
A bundle of nerves about an inch thick, running from one side of your brain to the other. This allows information to flow between the two parties. If you are right-handed, most of the messages from your left side go through it, which is why people are in favor of their influential hand when there is damage in that area. Left-handed people have more trouble using both hands after a stroke because messages are being sent in a shorter way. In general, though, people do not usually lose language or movement to one side due to a stroke - only the sensation or part of their mouth (which is controlled by the opposite side). They can also lose mental control if certain areas are damaged.
Hippocampus
The hippocampus is one of the two parts of your brain that is most closely linked to memory. Memories are not stored in a single place; Instead, they spread to different areas, including some in both hemispheres of your brain. These memories can be short-term or long-term. Short-term memories last only a few seconds or minutes before fading, while long-term memories can last forever if they are properly strengthened. They don’t have to be strong through constant repetition - learning something new will permanently imprint it on your brain if you spend enough time thinking about it later. Hippocampus: The hippocampus is one of the two parts of your brain that are closely associated with memory.
Amygdala (emotion center)
The amygdala helps us understand what we perceive as positive or negative. This is linked to our fight-or-flight response. When something frightening happens, we freeze or react physically (e.g. fleeing). Individuals with a small amygdala have been found to be less responsive to frightening stimuli.
Thalamus (sensory center / relay station for input from all senses except smell and taste)
The thalamus acts as a relay station for all sensitive information except odor (which goes into the olfactory bulb) and taste (which is sent to other parts of your brain). All inputs are directed to different regions depending on what type of signal. If you hear a crash from behind you, the sound goes to your auditory cortex in your temporal lobe. If you see someone moving across your field of vision, it is relayed to your visual cortex in your occipital lobe. Sensitive sensations such as stress or pain are processed by sensors in your body tissues; These are transmitted to your spinal cord through nerves, then through specific pathways to different parts of the brainstem before being delivered to specific regions for processing.