Your books didn’t tell you this about brain!

Imagine you are walking on the road! Suddenly a vehicle comes with a high speed! BAM!! It just collapsed with a tree & you are saved. Thank God!

You are safe because you gave immediate reaction & saved yourself. How come this happened? You saw, your brain got activated & gave response.

Today’s article is all about it. Yes about the activity of the brain. I am going to tell you about all parts of brain & what function they show. So use your brain to learn about brain J

Brain is largest & most complex organ of the body. It is a part of central nervous system. Billions of nerves & trillions of joints (synapses) are present in brain. Almost every activity shown by us is controlled by brain.

Well Guys! Four important regions of brain are mentioned below.

• Cerebrum
• Cerebellum
• Limbic system
• Brain stem

Brain consists of 3 parts viz. forebrain, midbrain & hind brain.

Parts of forebrain are cerebrum, thalamus & hypothalamus. Tectum & tegmentum are the parts of midbrain. Cerebellum, pons & medulla constitute the hindbrain.

Now let’s discuss about different regions of brain –

Cerebrum – It is the largest part of brain. Higher brain function such as thought & actions are controlled by it. Cerebral cortex is divided into 4 regions or lobes which are: Frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe & temporal lobe.

Now let me tell you functions of these lobes (Fig B):

• Frontal lobe – It is associated with functioning of reasoning, planning, emotions, parts of speech & problem solving capabilities.
• Parietal Lobe – It is associated with sense of touch, pain & temperature. It helps in distinguishing between shape, size & color. It controls spatial & visual perception.
• Occipital lobe – All visual processing is controlled by occipital lobe.
• Temporal lobe – It’s associated with speech, memory, hearing, sequencing & organization.

You know guys cerebral cortex is highly wrinkled.  And because of this fold, brain is highly efficient. Surface area of brain is increased with more of the neurons in it.  If you want to get more into it, jump in to this link

Cerebrum is divided by a deep furrow forming left & right symmetrical hemisphere.  Both hemispheres function somewhat different.  Right hemisphere controls creativity & left hemisphere controls logic abilities. A bundle of axon known as Corpus callosum connects these two hemisphere.

Two surfaces are present in cerebrum viz. grey & white surface. White surface acts as the interface between nerve cells of brain & other parts of the body.

Cerebellum – It’s the ‘little brain’ & present at the back of the head (Fig B). As like cerebrum, it has two hemispheres which are highly coiled. This part of the brain controls voluntary movement such as balance, posture & movement.

Damage to the cerebellum may cause lack of balance or slower movement.

Limbic system – It’s known as ‘emotional brain’. It is buried within the cerebrum. This system consists of thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala & hippocampus.

Let’s take a look now to the functions of each part of this limbic system –

• Hippocampus -It plays an important role in memory, emotions & learning.
• Amygdala – It controls eating, drinking, sexual behavior & aggression.
• Hypothalamus – It monitors hormones, blood pressure, salt & glucose levels.
• Thalamus – It controls sleep, consciousness, sensory interpretation & also awake states.

Brain stem – It is present underneath the limbic system.   Basic vital functions such as heartbeat, breathing & blood pressure are controlled by this system. According to scientists, brain stem is the simplest part of brain as according to evolutionary stage it was form earlier in reptiles.

Pons, medulla & part of mid brain are present in brain stem.  Let me tell you their functions too.

• Pons – It is associated with sleeping, dreaming & walking functions.
• Medulla Oblongata – Certain automatic functions such as breathing & heart rate are controlled by it.
• Midbrain – It helps in processing of visual & auditory data. It controls consciousness.

So guys your feedback is also expected. You can comment below. And if you want more information on nervous system, you can click this link

Well! I am Anjali Ahuja, a member from pool of askIITians. We always try to give best of study material to our students. Yes! You can jump in this link if you want to check it out.