Ten Important Parts of the Human Brain
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The human brain is one of the most important organs in the body – it serves as the cognitive and memory center for day-to-day actions. It’s a complex organ handling functions such as thoughts and emotions, as well as touch, vision and breathing, etc. One can think of the other human organs as receptors, while the brain is the initiator and the processing center for various actions.
Grey and White Matter
The outer part of the brain consists of grey matter which is primarily responsible for the interpretation and analysis of the information gathered from the outside environment. The white matter forms the inner parts of the brain and its primary function is the transmission of the information to the other parts of the nervous system. This exchange of information happens as the brain sends and receives signals in the electrical and chemical forms.
Cerebrum
Cerebrum is made up of both grey and white matter. It’s the front of the brain and the part which is made up of the grey matter is called the cerebral cortex. The cerebrum is the largest area of the brain and it divides the brain into two halves, each called a hemisphere. Cerebrum is important as it maintains temperature, enables speech, thinking and reasoning. The problem solving happens in this area of the brain.
Cerebral Cortex
Cortex is a Latin word which means “bark” as it’s the outer covering of cerebrum. Around half of the brains weight is concentrated inside the cortex owing to the folds of its structure. The right hemisphere of the Cerebral Cortex controls the left side of the body whereas the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body. These two sides (hemispheres) are interlinked through corpus callosum, which are nerve pathways. Callosum is made up of white matter and as brain matures it plays an important role in refining motor movements and cognitive functions.
Brainstem
It’s the middle of the brain which consists of three parts, midbrain, pons and the medulla. The midbrain supports various functions such as hearing, movement and responses to the surroundings. The midbrain contains an area which is rich in dopamine neurons. Pons connects the midbrain to medulla and has twelve cranial nerves. Medulla is at the bottom of the brainstem which contains the necessary connections to the spinal cord. Blood flow, oxygen and breathing are controlled by the medulla along with heart beat.
Hemispheres
Each hemisphere is further divided into four sections, frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, and occipital lobe. Frontal lobe defines the personality characteristics and decision making of the subject. The Parietal lobe which is in the middle of the each hemisphere helps identification of the objects and relates spatial domains. Occipital lobe is involved with vision and it’s the back part. Last, temporal lobe involves short-term memory and musical rhythm interpretation and execution.
Pituitary Gland
This specialised structure controls hormones from thyroid, adrenals, ovaries and testicles. The frontal lobe makes up 80% of this gland and it’s pea-sized in nature. The brain along with this gland make up neuroendocrine system.
Hypothalamus
Hypothalamus controls hunger, thirst, sleep patterns and also plays some role in emotions. It’s located above the pituitary gland and sends it chemical messages that control its functions. hypothalamus controls body temperature, sleep patterns, hunger and thirst. The signals from hypothalamus control the reproductive, digestive and excretory functions through the pituitary gland.
Cerebellum
The positional sensors in the muscles and impulses from the ear are integrated by cerebellum. The coordination from cerebellum helps the contraction and relaxation of the individual muscle-fibres for maintaining the posture and balance of the body. Cerebellum like cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres and each core is enclosed in grey matter consisting of white matter. Muscle coordination for movement and balance is due to cerebellum.
Pineal Gland
Pineal gland is important because it detects the daylight and night time, accordingly releasing a chemical melatonin to regulate sleep-wake cycle. Renee Descartes called pineal gland the seat of the soul and it’s located in the centre of the brain. The light sensitive cells in the retina detect light and then send the signals to the pineal gland.
Hippocampus & Amygdala
Each temporal lobe of cerebrum has hippocampus present on the underside. This part of brain supports memory and perception of space. On the contrary, Amygdala is located under each hemisphere which regulates emotion and memory. Stress and “fight or flight” response is regulated by the Amygdala.