The Human Brain

Basically, the human brain is an electrochemical organ powered by electromagnetic energy. It is composed of many parts, each of which has a specific function. The brain contains billions of neurons with various specialized functions. Although the brain works as a unit, it can be divided into four main parts for the sake of simplicity. These are the cerebrum, cerebellum, diencephalons, and brainstem. The Cerebrum Also known as cerebral cortex, the cerebrum is associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. The cerebral cortex is the largest part of your brain. The cerebrum is responsible for all conscious experience, including perception, emotion and planning. It is the thinking, analytical, feeling, and creative part of the brain. The cerebrum detects and interprets visual images involved in hearing and storing memory, perceives and interprets sensations like touch, heat, cold, and pain, and also involved with speech, movements, thoughts, ideas, and emotions. Without the cerebrum, humans cannot reason, walk, dance, play games, study, or critically analyze issues and situations. The cerebrum is split into two halves called hemispheres. Located on either side of the head, each half communicate with each other. Scientists believe that the right half is involved with the processing of abstract and creative thoughts such as thinking about things like music, time, space, colors, and shapes. The left half is believed to be involved with analytical subjects like math, logic, and speech. Some scientists have suggested that the right hemisphere of the cerebrum controls the left side of the body, and the left hemisphere controls the right side, however, this concept is not known for sure to be true. Cerebellum The second largest part of your brain is the cerebellum. It is located underneath the cerebrum toward the back of the brain, connected to the brainstorm and relatively protected from trauma. The cerebellum is involved in the coordination of voluntary motor movement, balance and equilibrium, as well as muscle tone and posture. As humans, we easily move around, stand upright, and keep our balance because of the cerebellum. To accomplish its vital function, the cerebellum integrates and aligns sensory perception with motor control. Thus, the cerebellum can be considered as the guru of coordinated movement. Clinical observations suggest that mental activities also are coordinated in the cerebellum. Injury to the cerebellum results in slow and uncoordinated movement. Damage to the cerebellum can lead to loss of coordination of motor movement, movement tremors, inability to judge distance, inability to perform rapid alternating movements, staggering, tendency toward falling, weak muscles, slurred speech, and abnormal eye movements. Thus, individuals with cerebella injuries tend to sway and stagger when walking.