THE EXPLAINER THE BRAIN
EXPLORE THE WONDERS OF YOUR GREY MATTER, THE ORGAN THAT MAKES YOU YOU
“I am a brain, Watson,” Sherlock Holmes told his assistant. “The rest of me is mere appendix.” While most of us don’t operate on quite the same level as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional super-sleuth, it’s true that everything we know about the world – and ourselves – is contained within our brains, to which our bodies are, if not necessarily appendices, then certainly largely subject to. Our brains control our thoughts and actions, and are unique to each of us. Boasting 86 billion neurons and a 100 trillion connections, they’re so complex that it’s almost impossible for us get our heads around them, so to speak. But let’s try…
What’s inside your brain?
ILLUSTRATION: DANIEL BRIGHT
1. CEREBRUM
A large section behind your forehead with a wide variety of responsibilities, ranging from movement and behaviour to language and emotions.
2. FRONTAL LOBE
Encompassing most of the wrinkly structure we recognise as the brain, the cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres (left and right) and four regions, or lobes.
2.1. PRIMARY MOTOR CORTEX
This is a bunch of nerves found in the dorsal section of the frontal lobe that control voluntary movements.
2.2. SUPPLEMENTARY MOTOR CORTEX