Brain 101

Brain is the most complex organ in the human body. We learnt more about the brain in the last 25 years than what we learnt in the last 2500 years. This jelly-like mass of tissue, weighing in at around 1.4 kilograms helps us in producing our every thought, action, memory, feeling and experience and is responsible for all the achievements that we see all around us. If human body can be considered as a machine then brain is the computer that operates this machine.

Recent research in to the functioning of the brain has given rise to numerous new fields of study, Cognitive Neuro Science, Neuro Leadership, Psycho-Neuro-Immunology, Affective Neuro Science, and Social Neuro Science to name a few. The more we study about the brain the more ignorant we seem to be about the workings of this three-pound-enigma, as it is fondly referred to by the Scientists.

Different Areas of Brain and their Functions

All the different activities listed above are performed by the brain with the help of tiny cells called neurons. There are a staggering 100 billion neurons inside the brain. Each neuron is primarily made of 3 parts, Cell-body, Axon (or the long tail), and Dendrites with which they connect with other neurons. The picture a single neuron is given below.

Structure of a Neuron