Your Brain - Learn How it Works so you can Learn How to Use It
Image on the left: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABrainLobesLabelled.jpg
Attribution: By Camazine [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Image on the Right: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACerebral_lobes.png
Free image through http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html, via Wikimedia Commons
We are each born with a brain, but no one supplies a user manual to help you understand how the brain works. One of the first things we have to learn is what makes up the brain. The two images above provide two views of the brain. Each image is showing us the cerebrum. The four lobes are part of the cerebrum and they four lobes are called the cerebral cortex. They help us with higher mental functions, like thought, reason, emotion and memory AND it also controls and integrates motor and sensory functions. In each image you can see the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe and the frontal lobe. The one on the left also shows the temporal lobe. The brain on the rights shows that it is split into two hemispheres, the right and the left. Below you will find information on what each lobe does.
The frontal lobe is associated with executive function. This includes:
- Reasoning
- Planning
- Parts of speech
- Movement
- Emotions
- Problem solving
The parietal lobe is associated with:
- Movement
- Orientation
- Recognition
- Perception of stimuli
The occipital lobe is associated with:
- Visual processing
The temporal lobe is associated with:
- Perception and recognition of smell, taste and sound and the formation and storage of memories.
So now that we know some of the parts of the brain we need to find out how the brain works. When we talk about how it works we have to include the nervous system and the spinal cord. If we think of our brain as the command center, then you can consider the nervous system as a communication and decision making center. The nervous system has two parts, the central nervous system, which is the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system, which is your nerves. Together these two systems control much of what you do each day, such as the ability to speak, walk, blink, recall, memorize and much more. Your nerves may start in the brain but they are found all over your body. Some nerves gather information about what is around you, your environment, and they send this information back to the brain, with the spinal cord being the main road. The brain quickly responds to this information and sends a message back using motor neurons.
Learning About Neurons
This image shows us what the neurons in the brain look like. Remember, neurons are actually a nerve cell. Each neuron has an axon, which helps to transmit messages that are going out of the brain to other cells, and dendrites, which look like a branch in the image and receives messages from other cells. They also have a cell body which is called a soma. There are over one hundred billion, that would be 100,000,000,000 neurons in your brain! The neurons use electro-chemical signals to transfer the information to and from the brain. For communication to happen between the cells there is a small gap between the axon (which is sending the message from the brain) and the dendrite (which is receiving the message. The gap is called a synapse. In fact, the one neuron can communicate with up to 10,000 other neurons!
There are five videos below which explain these concepts with visual images. Some include voice, but not all.
This image shows us what the neurons in the brain look like. Remember, neurons are actually a nerve cell. Each neuron has an axon, which helps to transmit messages that are going out of the brain to other cells, and dendrites, which look like a branch in the image and receives messages from other cells. They also have a cell body which is called a soma. There are over one hundred billion, that would be 100,000,000,000 neurons in your brain! The neurons use electro-chemical signals to transfer the information to and from the brain. For communication to happen between the cells there is a small gap between the axon (which is sending the message from the brain) and the dendrite (which is receiving the message. The gap is called a synapse. In fact, the one neuron can communicate with up to 10,000 other neurons!
There are five videos below which explain these concepts with visual images. Some include voice, but not all.
Videos on the Brain
An animated tour around the brain.
This video uses images and text to show you how a neural pathways become established, comparing the growth of a trail which becomes a path, and then a road to what takes in the brain as you learn new information.
Another way to look at how neuron pathways grow.
This is a bit longer than the other videos. It compares your brain with the Internet, and you may be surprised by what you learn.
Quoting from the website: "Enter the fascinating realm of how your brain works in this short, simple and easy to understand video. Be amazed at how much unrealized potential you have. The reality is that no one is any smarter and clever than anyone else, the difference lies in understanding how to unlock your brains power and potential. Life can be a level playing field when you learn to tap into your brains amazing potential."
Resources (Websites used to gather information for this page.)
Websites
Brain Structures and Their Functions at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Structure1.html
Right Brain, Left Brain? Scientists Debunk Popular Theory at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/right-brain-left-brain-debunked_n_3762322.html
Comparative Neuroanatomy and Intelligence at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/brains
The Brain at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/brain/index.shtml
Enchanted Learning is a great website (for students and teachers) with a wide range of topics for students K-12.
Alzheimer's Disease: Unraveling the Mystery at http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/part-1-basics-healthy-brain/inside-human-brain
Neurons and Synapses at http://www.human-memory.net/brain_neurons.html
Videos
How the Brain Works at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4O_Wkv66b0
This 9 minute video provides an excellent overview of explaining how the "brain cells connet to form neural pathways that govern all our thoughts, actions and behaviors."
Brain Power: From Neurons to Networks at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLp-edwiGUU
This video presents neurons and neural pathways using the Internet as a comparison.
How We Learn: Synapses and Neural Pathways at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEwg8TeipfQ
This video discusses synapes and neural pathways but uses a different activity to illustrate the process.
Neural Pathways at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUolIKxuRVc
This video is silent. It uses images and text to convey the concept of how neural pathways are built, starting with an individual being seen running on a trail.
How the Brain Works at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UukcdU258A
This is an animated tour of the brain.
Additional Resources
A Detailed Diagram of a Neuron at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuron
Fun Facts About Neurons at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/brains/neuron/funfacts
Neuroscience for Kids at http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
Learn more about the nervous system at this website, designed for students and teachers.
The Brain at http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/brain-article/
This interactive website allows students to learn about brain anatomy, unhealthy brains and you can stimulate the brain to see what happens.
Teacher Resources
Six Tips for Brain-Based Learning at http://www.edutopia.org/brain-based-learning-strategies-resource-guide
How to Teach Students About the Brain at
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec09/vol67/num04/How-to-Teach-Students-About-the-Brain.aspx
What You Should Know About Your Brain at http://www.radteach.com/page1/page8/page45/page45.html
What Kids Should Know About Their Brain at http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/04/what-kids-should-know-about-their-own-brains/
Websites
Brain Structures and Their Functions at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Structure1.html
Right Brain, Left Brain? Scientists Debunk Popular Theory at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/right-brain-left-brain-debunked_n_3762322.html
Comparative Neuroanatomy and Intelligence at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/brains
The Brain at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/brain/index.shtml
Enchanted Learning is a great website (for students and teachers) with a wide range of topics for students K-12.
Alzheimer's Disease: Unraveling the Mystery at http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/part-1-basics-healthy-brain/inside-human-brain
Neurons and Synapses at http://www.human-memory.net/brain_neurons.html
Videos
How the Brain Works at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4O_Wkv66b0
This 9 minute video provides an excellent overview of explaining how the "brain cells connet to form neural pathways that govern all our thoughts, actions and behaviors."
Brain Power: From Neurons to Networks at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLp-edwiGUU
This video presents neurons and neural pathways using the Internet as a comparison.
How We Learn: Synapses and Neural Pathways at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEwg8TeipfQ
This video discusses synapes and neural pathways but uses a different activity to illustrate the process.
Neural Pathways at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUolIKxuRVc
This video is silent. It uses images and text to convey the concept of how neural pathways are built, starting with an individual being seen running on a trail.
How the Brain Works at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UukcdU258A
This is an animated tour of the brain.
Additional Resources
A Detailed Diagram of a Neuron at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuron
Fun Facts About Neurons at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/brains/neuron/funfacts
Neuroscience for Kids at http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
Learn more about the nervous system at this website, designed for students and teachers.
The Brain at http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/brain-article/
This interactive website allows students to learn about brain anatomy, unhealthy brains and you can stimulate the brain to see what happens.
Teacher Resources
Six Tips for Brain-Based Learning at http://www.edutopia.org/brain-based-learning-strategies-resource-guide
How to Teach Students About the Brain at
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec09/vol67/num04/How-to-Teach-Students-About-the-Brain.aspx
What You Should Know About Your Brain at http://www.radteach.com/page1/page8/page45/page45.html
What Kids Should Know About Their Brain at http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/04/what-kids-should-know-about-their-own-brains/