The Brain

• Along with the spinal cord, the brain is part of the central nervous system
• The brain is made up of billions of interconnected neurones
• The brain is in charge of all our complex behaviours, it controls and coordinates everything you do, e.g. running and breathing
• The brain:

  • cerebral cortex - the outer wrinkly bit that is responsible for things like consciousness, intelligence, memory and language
  • medulla - controls unconscious activities like breathing and heartbeat
  • cerebellum - responsible for muscle coordination
  • spinal cord
• Scientists use different methods to study the brain:

  • studying patients with brain damage
  • electrically stimulating the brain
  • MRI scans
• Studying patients with brain damage:

  • if a small part of the brain has been damaged, the effect this has on the patient can tell you a lot about what the damaged part of the brain does
  • e.g. if an area of the brain was damaged by a stroke and the patient went blind, you know that the area has something to do with vision
• Electrically stimulating the brain:

  • the brain can be stimulated electrically by pushing a tiny electrode into the tissue and giving it a small zap of electricity
  • by observing what stimulating different parts of the brain does, it's possible to get an idea of what those parts do
  • e.g. when a certain part of the brain (the motor area) is stimulated, it causes muscle contraction and movement
• MRI scans::

  • a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner is a big tube-like machine that can produce a very detailed image of the brain's structures
  • Scientists use it to find out what areas of the brain are active when people are doing things like listening to music or trying to recall a memory
• Knowledge of how the brain works has led to the development of treatments for disorders of the nervous system, e.g. electrical stimulation of the brain can help reduce muscle tremors caused by nervous system disorders such as Parkinson's disease
• The brain is incredibly complex and delicate, so the investigation of brain function and any treatment of brain damage or disease is difficult, and carries risks such as physical damage to the brain or increased problems with brain function (e.g. difficulties with speech)