BRAIN

In order to use our brain power for maximum benefits, we should know about our brain first. We all are gifted with a wonderful organ known as BRAIN.The BRAIN is the center of the NERVOUS SYSTEM. The brain is the most complex organ of our body.

STRUCTURE OF BRAIN

The human brain weighs about 1.5 Kg , which is roughly about 2 % of our body weight.

Our brain can be divided into three parts

1.Brain stem 2. Cerebellum and 3. Cerebral cortex

1. Brain stem- It controls heartbeat, breathing, anxiety, sleep etc..

2. Cerebellum – It controls long term memory, learning ability, emotional conditions etc..

3. Cerebral cortex – It consist of a chain of crores of neurons. It is divided into left and right hemisphere. Though they look identical, the right part controls left side of the body and the left side controls right side of the body.

Relation between brain and mind

If you go to the  philosophical side, what makes the BRAIN special  is that it forms the physical structure that generates the MIND.

It is very difficult to understand the relationship between the brain and the mind. It is very difficult to imagine how mental entities such as thoughts and emotions could be implemented by physical entities such as neurons and synapses, or by any other type of mechanism.

HIPPOCRATES SAID THAT: “Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations.”

The mind was always thought to be separate from the brain. Even the present-day neuroscience finds it challenging to understand the mechanisms by which brain activity gives rise to consciousness and thought. Much about how the brain works remains a mystery.

LEFT DEALS WITH RIGHT AND RIGHT WITH LEFT !

Each hemisphere of the brain interacts primarily with one half of the body, but the connections are crossed: the left side of the brain interacts with the right side of the body, and vice versa.

Motor connections from the brain to the spinal cord, and sensory connections from the spinal cord to the brain, both cross the midline at the level of the brainstem.

The two cerebral hemispheres are connected by a very large nerve bundle called the corpus callosum, which crosses the midline above the level of the thalamus. The corpus callosum is the main avenue of communication between the two hemispheres.

What Is Left Brain – Right Brain Theory?

The left hemisphere is active in logical, practical, linear and time oriented activities and the right hemisphere deals with abstract, non-linear, holistic and non logical processes.

When we are doing tasks like solving maths problems, left hemisphere is most active and if we are doing any creative activity like painting, composing music etc.. our right hemisphere becomes active.

The theory of left-brain or right-brain dominance, says that each side of the brain controls different types of thinking. People prefer one type of thinking over the other. A person who is “left-brained” is said to be more logical, objective and analytical and  a person who is “right-brained” is said to be more thoughful, intuitive, and subjective.

The Right Brain – Creative and Expressive Tasks

• Creativity
• Music
• Recognizing faces
• Color
• Intuition
• Expressing emotions
• Reading emotions
• Images

 The Left Brain- Logic, analytical thinking and language

•  Numbers
•  Reasoning
•  Logic
•  Language
•  Critical thinking

In psychology, the theory is based on  the lateralization of brain function.

Are people either left-brained or right-brained? Like many popular psychology myths, this one has a basis in fact that has been dramatically distorted and exaggerated.

The right brain-left brain theory grew out of the work of Roger W. Sperry.  Sperry suggested that language was controlled by the left-side of the brain.

Later research has shown that the brain is not nearly as dichotomous as once thought. For eg: recent research has shown that abilities in subjects such as math are actually strongest when both halves of the brain work together.