ShowMe of the Week: The Brain

The human brain is an amazing organ responsible for the functions of the body and interpreting information from the outside world.  Receiving information through touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight human brain governs our emotions, creativity and intelligence. In this way brain controls our thoughts, memory, speech and movements.

Enclosed in the scull, the brain is composed of tree parts: cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem. This week’s ShowMe will help you to better understand the anatomy of the brain and it’s functions. Check out a ShowMe by Dale Ledford, Assistant Professor of Biology at Northeast State Community College explaining the brain anatomy.

If you are interested in anatomy, check out Dale Ledford’s page for descriptive ShowMes about different parts of human body.

In addition, here are 5 interesting facts about human brain that you might not be aware of:

1. One can not tickle himself. The fact is that the human brain is tuned to percept the external stimuli, so not to miss important signals in the flow of sensations caused by his own actions.
2. Yawning helps the brain to wake up.Yawning is often associated with lack of sleep and boredom, but in fact it helps a person to wake up. During yawning, the throat expands, which makes it easy to get more oxygen, which then moves into the blood, making us more cheerful.
3. The size of the brain does not affect the intellectual abilities of man. According to researchers, the intelligence depends on synapses – contacts between neurons. The number of synapses grows in the childhood and adolescence of a person’s life and affects the intellect. The most rapid development of the brain occurs at the age of 2 to 11 years.
4. The human brain uses less energy than the light bulb in the refrigerator. Messages between the brain cells are transmitted by electrical signals. At the same time, 12 watts of energy is used – less than for a bulb in a refrigerator.
5. The brain is like muscles, the more you train it, the more it grows. Moreover, the more educated a person is, the less is the likelihood for brain diseases. Intellectual activity causes the production of additional tissues that compensates the ailing ones.