Today, in my psychology class, we learned about the brain and all of its incredible functions. I am amazed by how complex and powerful the human brain is. It controls everything we do, think, and feel. The brain is made up of over 86 billion neurons that communicate through chemical and electrical signals. There are different regions of the brain specialized for specific tasks, but they all work together to make us who we are.
One part that fascinated me is the cerebral cortex – the outer layer that plays a crucial role in memory, perception, awareness, thought, and language. I learned that because humans have such a large and developed cortex compared to other animals, it enables our impressive cognitive abilities (Parajuli et al., 2023). The different lobes also have specific roles – the frontal lobe handles planning, problem-solving, and emotion; the parietal lobe processes sensations and spatial reasoning; the temporal lobe controls memory and hearing; and the occipital lobe interprets visual information.
How these areas function together seamlessly to create perception, emotion, and consciousness itself amazes me. For example, the sensory cortex takes in signals from our eyes, which get processed by the temporal and occipital lobes to form visual perceptions with a high simulation of (75%) (Parajuli et al., 2023). The signals get sent to the parietal lobe to locate objects in space and determine movement. All this happens instantly without us even realizing it!
Not only does the brain handle immense incoming stimuli, but it also regulates automatic bodily processes to keep us alive through the brain stem and cerebellum. Things like breathing, heart rate, swallowing, balance and coordination of movement (Parajuli et al., 2023). The brain stem connects to the spinal cord to control reflexes, while the cerebellum coordinates voluntary motions. This unconscious regulation forms the foundation needed for higher-order thinking.
What is also fascinating is how the brain develops from birth. Through neuroplasticity, neural connections form pathways that determine learning capacity and behaviour. As a child, my brain was absorbing linguistic rules to acquire language. Now, when I hear, read, write or speak a language, it just happens automatically, thanks to those established circuits. However, the brain remains malleable with the ability for neuromodulation; existing connections can still adapt. When learning something new, like how to play an instrument, my brain changes by tuning and optimizing areas necessary to develop that skill. Brains have lifelong neuroplasticity.
In the end, the brain enables everything that makes me who I am – my personality, knowledge, skills, talents and emotions all arise from circuits firing away through electrochemical transmission across neuron synapses. The ability to think, reason, remember, imagine, and consciously experience myself and the world around me comes from my fantastic brain. It lets me communicate these inner thoughts by activating my mouth and hand muscles to form language. What an incredibly complex yet efficient organ! I have so much appreciation for my brain and how it shapes my entire inner and outer life. Understanding more about how it works deepens my awe of its capabilities and desire to take good care of my brain health. This organ is central to my very identity as a human being.
Reference
Parajuli, A., Gutnisky, D., Tandon, N., & Dragoi, V. (2023). Endogenous fluctuations in cortical state selectively enhance different modes of sensory processing in the human temporal lobe. Nature Communications, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41406-3
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