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Created with Fabric.js 1.4.5 Frontal LobeThe frontal lobe of the human brain controls reasoning, planning, and problem solving skills, movement, and emotion. CerebrumThe cerebrum (the cortex) is the largest section of the human brain; it is divided into four main sections: frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. Temporal LobeThe temporal lobe of the braincontrols auditory perception, memory, speech, emotional responses, and visual perception. Parietal LobeThe parietal lobe of the brain controls movement,orientation, recognition, and perception of stimuli. Occipital LobeThe occipital lobe controls visual processing. Fifteen years ago, it was believed that major brain developments take place during the first few years of life. But fifteen years ago, humans did not have Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which now allows neuroscientists to observe living brain activities of people from different ages. There are two types of MRI: structural MRI – allows you to take high-resolution images of the brain – and functional MRI (FMRI) – allows you to video brain activities over a period of time. Years of research on brains with MRI have led to a new conclusion: the development of human brains does not stop at the early stages of life, but rather continues past adolescence into the mid twenties and thirties. Adolescence is a stage of life when a person experiences puberty and other physical, mental, and hormonal changes. One of the significant changes in a person’s brain during this stage occurs in the prefron-tal cortex. Prefrontal cortex is a very interesting part of the brain; it is proportionally much larger in humans than in any other species, and it involves in high cognitive functions – decision-making, planning, and inhibiting inappropriate behaviours – and also in social interaction, understand-ing other people, and self-awareness. Using MRI, neuroscientists have seen that the prefrontal cortex of a person’s brain goes through dramatic changes during puberty; the grey matter volume peaks around early adolescence and starts to decline during the later phase of adolescence. This decline in the grey matter volume is thought to correspond with synaptic pruning, the elimination of unwanted synapses so that imperative synapses are strengthened. And this dramatic change is happening during adolescence.In an experiment, adolescents and adults were brought into a laboratory to have a brain scan while performing a certain experimental task the neuro-scientists have given them, a task that involves thinking about other people, their minds, their mental states, and their emotions. The results show that a part of the prefrontal cortex called the medial prefrontal cortex is more active in adolescents than in adults when they are making social deci-sions. It is also evident that the activeness of the medial prefrontal cortex decreases as the age of the participants increases. This led neuro-scientists to believe that adolescents have “different mental approach and a different cognitive strategy to make social decisions.” And this led to another experiment*. The results of this experiment suggest that the ability to understand, remember, and follow the rules is fully developed by mid-adolescence; however, “the ability to take into account someone else's perspective in order to guide ongoing behaviour…is still developing in mid-to-late adolescence.”Another part of the human brain that neuroscientists focus on is the limbic system (consists of thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus), which associates with emotion and reward processing. “It gives a person the rewarding feeling when doing something fun, including taking risks.” Neuroscientists have discovered that during adolescence, this part of the brain is “hypersensitive.” Take into account the fact that during the same period the prefrontal cortex, which stops a person from taking risks, is still in development, it is not surprising that adolescents are more willing to take more risks than adults. Further brain researches have shown that adolescence is one of crucial stages of life; the brain undergoes crucial development and changes suitable for learning and education. “So what is sometimes seen as the problem with adolescents — heightened risk-taking, poor impulse control, self-consciousness — should not be stigmatized. It actually reflects changes in the brain that provide an excellent opportunity for education and social development.” *For the complete version of the study, visit http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_ adolescent_brain?language=en where Sarah-Jayne Blakemore gives an outstanding presentation on teenage brain. Cerebral CortexThe cerebral cortex processes information from the sense organs and controls body movement. Brain StemThe brain stem controls basic bodily processes and regulates involuntaryactivities like breathing, digestion. Cerebellum Cerebellum (or the little brain) associates with the regulation and coordination of movement and posture. Corpus Callosum Corpus callosum connects two sides of the brain. Its main function is to combine motor, sensory, and cognitive performances from the cerebral cortex from both sides of the brain. White MatterThe white matter regulates the electrical signals in axons and connects different areas of the brain. Cell BodyThe cell body is a part of a neuron that contains organelles such as the nucleus, the Golgi apparatus, the mitochondria, and the endoplasmic recticulum. As a whole,the cell body produces proteins for the dendrites, the axons, and the synaptic terminals(axon terminals). The cell body also produces energy (ATP) for the neuron to use. DendritesDendrites are the parts of a neuron that recieve and detect electrical mes-sages and signals from other nerve cells (these stimuli activate the neuron). Dendrites are covered by thousands of synapses. Each of these synapsescontain receptors, which detect neurotransmitters in the synaptic cleft. AxonThe axon (nerve fibre) is the long, threadlike part of a neuron. It functions as a conduit that sends electrical impulses away from the neuron's cell body to other neurons. Myelin SheathThe myelin sheath of a neuron surrounds the axon and aids the transmission ofnerve signals. It also protects the axon, preventing the interference between axons as many neurons congegrated together. Axon TerminalThe axon terminal is the point where nerve signals jump from one neuron to another, leaving the former's axon terminal to another neuron's dendrite. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Structure1.html http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n07/fundamentos/neuron/parts_i.htm
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