Think of a moist, grey mass, slightly bigger than your two fists: that’s the real you, the essence of your being. The rest of your body exists merely to house the brain and do its bidding.
What is the brain exactly?
The brain is a mass of nervous tissue that regulates, well, everything you think, feel and do. From the twitch of an eyelid to writing a symphony. Given all it does for you, it’s not all that big: the adult male brain weighs in at about 1.4kg! And a female’s brain is only about 1.26kg. But, as with other body parts, size isn’t everything.
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It’s not so much how big the brain is, but how groovy. What really distinguishes the human brain is its multiple grooves and folds, providing a large surface area packed with billions of brain cells, or neurons. This makes it – i.e. you – by far the most complex machine in existence.
Are you a rightbrainer or a leftbrainer?
The brain is mainly (85%) cerebrum, the groovy grey part, which is the primary control centre: all your thoughts and feelings, whether you’re doing calculus or wondering what to have for lunch, take place here. It also processes input from your senses and controls all your voluntary movements.
The cerebrum is divided longitudinally into two halves, or hemispheres, connected by a band of nerve fibres. Weirdly, the right half controls movement on the left side of your body, and the left half controls the right side. Many scientists think the right half is more involved in abstract things like music, colours and shapes, while the left half is said to be more analytical and objective, involved with logic and speech. Some people may be more "right-brained" or "left-brained" while others are more "whole-brained," meaning they use both halves of their brain to the same degree.
You need a little brain
Another important player in the brain game is the cerebellum, sometimes called the ‘little brain’, because it looks a bit like the cerebrum but is only about one eighth its size and tucked beneath it. The cerebellum
controls balance, movement and co-ordination.
You also can’t live without the brainstem, which forms a kind of bulge at the top of the spinal cord. The brainstem receives, sends out and co-ordinates all the messages travelling from the brain to the body and vice versa. It also controls many automatic functions, like breathing and heart rate.
What you can do for your brain
First, you need to protect your brain from damage, which can happen through lack of oxygen, disease or a head injury:
Wear a helmet and other protective gear when you ride a motorbike or bicycle, or play sports that threaten your cranium. Think carefully about your favourite sporting activities, how you can make them safer and whether you shouldn’t perhaps switch to ones with lower risk for head and spinal injuries.
Don't drink alcohol in excess, take drugs or smoke.
Second, remember your brain is an organ of the body, and, like all the rest of them, needs regular exercise and a balanced, nutritious exercise to give of its best.
Third: use it or lose it was never so apt an expression as when applied to the brain. If you stop giving your brain regular workouts, it – i.e. you – gets dull and boring. So challenge it with anything that makes you frown and clasp a hand to your forehead a little: learn a new skill, read, do puzzles, write poetry, play music, fix something. You can’t replace lost brain cells, but you can forge new neural connections.
Did you know?
The brain contains 100 billion brain cells, which is a good thing because it loses about 100 000 per day.
Although the brain accounts for only about 2% of the whole body's mass, it uses about 20% of the blood flowing from the heart. The brain needs a constant supply of oxygenated blood flow to keep up with the high metabolic rate of the neurons.
Unconsciousness occurs 8-10 seconds after loss of blood supply to the brain.
There are no pain receptors within the brain itself. This allows neurosurgeons to probe areas of the brain while the patient is conscious.
It’s a myth that we only use 10% of our brain. Neuroscientists think we pretty much use all of it. There’s plenty of room for improvement in terms of how well we use it, though.
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