Nov 25, 2007
Use It or Lose It, and Cells that Fire together Wire together
By: Alvaro Fernandez
Who has not heard “Use It or Lose It”. Now, what is “It”? Last week I gave a talk at the Italian Consulate in San Francisco, and one of the areas attendants seemed to enjoy the most was learning what our brains are and how they work, peaking into the “black box” of our minds. Without understanding at least the basics, how can we make good decisions about our own brain health and fitness?
Let’s review at a glance:
The brain is composed of 3 “brains” or main sub-systems, each named after the evolutionary moment in which the sub-system is believed to have appeared.
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A) Neocortex, or Human Brain, is the most recent area, where we perform high-level thinking and complex integrative tasks. Other mammals do have this part too, but in smaller proportion of the whole brain volume.  This is where we have our right and left hemispheres.    Â
B) Limbic System, or Mammalian Brain, critical for emotions and for memory, Â C)Â Cerebellum and Stem, or Reptilian Brain, that regulates basic vital variables such as breathing, heartbeat and motor coordination (Credit for pic: Arnold Keyserling and R.C.L.) |
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B) Limbic system: emotions are generated here, as well as the appetites and urges that help us survive. For instance, the amygdala gets triggered to prepare us to deal with a threatening situation, resulting in our feeling of fear. The hippocampus is key in the formation of memory. (Credit: Sandhills College) |
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A) The Neocortex is composed of     Â
-Frontal Lobes: or the CEO of the Brain, for sophisticated brain functions such as planning and conceptualizing. Â -Parietal lobes: dealing with movement, the senses, and some forms of recognition -Temporal lobes: auditory processes and language -Occipital: visual processing center (credit: Morphonix) |
This is a informative site for brain related knowledge. Great job !
Wilson Teh
Glad you enjoy it, Wilson!
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