Biology Reading Summary



Biology Reading Summary

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Biology Reading Summary

The Brain

The brain is one of the most important parts of the human body. It is such an essential component that if it stops working, the person dies immediately. The brain can be considered as the central controlling unit of the human body that controls all the function and procedures carried on in the body. It contains all the memories, feelings emotions, desires, and thoughts. It produces, processes and stores all the thoughts, memories and emotions that are required for the normal functioning of an individual. Without the brain, a person would not be able to survive. The human brain is located at the topmost part of the body (Mai, Majtanik, & Paxinos, 2015), the head. It is mounted on the nervous system or the Spinal Cord and controls all the activities performed by the human consciously or unconsciously like breathing, digestion and blood circulation.

The human brain consists of further five parts: these parts and their functions have been elaborated below:

The brainstem:

Brainstem connects cerebrum with the spinal cord. It is further divided into three parts: the midbrain, medulla oblongata, and the pons. The brainstem is responsible for controlling breathing, alertness, blood pressure, heart rate, and other autonomic functions. The signals of nerves passing through the brainstem help in the coordination of the thoughts and memories which help in increasing intelligence.

The cerebellum:

The cerebellum is responsible for controlling functions like movement, balance, body coordination, and equilibrium and muscle tone. It is responsible for all the voluntary actions than an individual performs. It is located above the brainstem and behind the occipital lobes of the cerebral cortex. The cerebellum receives sensory information or signals from the spinal cord and the other parts of the brain and then designs the appropriate action. It may look small but half of the total neurons of the human brain, exist in this part of the brain. If any injury happens to the cerebellum, the human may get a paralysis attack or intellectual impairment. In case of a mild injury, the person may suffer from loss of balance, slow movement, or loss of coordination.

The cerebrum:

The cerebrum is the uppermost portion of the human brain; it is also the largest part of the brain. The cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres and contains the cerebral cortex. Other parts of the cerebrum that are present in the human brain are basal ganglia, hippocampus, and olfactory bulb.

The cerebrum is responsible for keeping factual memories (hippocampus), language and communication, olfaction and sensory processing of the gustatory, auditory, visual, somatosensory, and olfactory signals.

Thalamus:

The thalamus is a comparatively small structure present right above the brainstem and between the cerebral cortex and midbrain. The primary function of the thalamus is to convey signals to convey sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex. The thalamus is also responsible for an individual’s sleep and wakefulness. It keeps the person in a conscious state when he or she is awake and brings him or her in a conscious state when they are asleep and going to wake up (Penfield, 2015).

Hypothalamus:

The hypothalamus is a rather small part of the brain, but it is of extreme importance. It contains functioning centers for various metabolic activities and certain autonomic nervous functions. It also links the nervous system to the endocrine system through the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus is located just below the thalamus, and it is only the size of an almond.

Hypothalamus performs a diverse range of functions in a human body, like regulating the body temperature, controlling hunger and induction of certain aspects of parenting and attachment behaviors. Along with all these activities, the hypothalamus controls sleep, fatigue, hunger, and thirst.

References

Mai, J. K., Majtanik, M., & Paxinos, G. (2015). Atlas of the human brain. Academic Press.

Penfield, W. (2015). Mystery of the mind: A critical study of consciousness and the human brain. Princeton University Press.