How our brain is thinking?

Abstract:

The brain has no limit to the ability of our brain cells to understand and to store
knowledge.

Just think of some of the brilliant things the human brain has done. For example, it
figured out how to send people safely to the moon and back. It invented television,
where all we have to do is flick a switch and pictures and voices appear in our own
home. And the human brain invented and improved the airplane so that now we can
travel safely from place to place in the air rather than on the ground.

All this, and so much more, too, because of the wonderful cells our brains possess.
Did you know that we keep the same brain cells all our lives? We replace our skin
cells every few weeks, and our blood cells every few months, but we never replace
our brain cells with new ones. When we scratch ourselves or skin a knee, a scab
forms, and a couple of weeks later when it falls off, we have brand-new skin
underneath. Not so with our brain cells. If anything happens to one of these cells, it is
never replaced by a new one.

Nature was clever in having us keep the same brain cells, because it allows us to
remember things for always. If we changed our brain cells the way we do our skin
cells or blood cells, we would not be able to remember things for very long. New
brain cells would have to learn all over again the various senses of taste or smell or
sound or sight or touch that the old brain cells had been familiar with since early
childhood. Why, we might not even remember our parents from one year to the next.

No one knows for sure how the brain works. For instance, we don’t know exactly
where in the brain cell our knowledge is stored. If we were to look at brain cells under
a microscope, we could not see anything to show us how they developed the amazing
ability to know all the things they know. Some scientists believe that our ability to
think and to store knowledge is a chemical reaction, but exactly what that reaction is,
we don’t understand. However, doctors do know that the brain won’t work properly
unless, at all times, its cells are supplied with a great deal of oxygen and sugar. Brain
cells die more quickly than cells of any other organ in the body if they are deprived of
oxygen for even a few minutes, and if the brain cells don’t get enough sugar, they
can’t function properly.

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Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate,
animals. the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the
primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing, balance, taste, and smell. The human
brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons, linked with up to 10,000 synaptic
connections each. These neurons communicate with one another by means of long
protoplasmic fibers called axons, which carry trains of signal pulses called action
potentials to distant parts of the brain or body and target them to specific recipient
cells.

Human brain

The primate brain contains the same structures as the brains of other mammals, but is
considerably larger in proportion to body size. Most of the enlargement comes from a
massive expansion of the cortex, focusing especially on the parts sub serving vision
and forethought. The visual processing network of primates is very complex,
including at least 30 distinguishable areas, with a bewildering web of
interconnections. Taking all of these together, visual processing makes use of about
half of the brain. The other part of the brain that is greatly enlarged is the prefrontal
cortex, whose functions are difficult to summarize succinctly, but relate to planning,
working memory, motivation, attention, and executive control.

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Functions of brain:

From a biological point of view, the function of a brain is to generate behaviors that
promote the survival (more precisely, the genetic fitness) of an animal. This means
extracting as much relevant information as possible from the environment, and
integrating that information in order to select actions. In some cases, sensory signals
call for an immediate response, as for example when the olfactory system of a deer
detects the odor of a wolf. In other cases, sensory signals modulate an ongoing pattern
of activity, as for example in the effect of daily light-dark cycles on an organism's
sleep-wake behavior. And in many cases, information does not call for immediate
action but needs to be stored in case it is relevant to a future situation. Integrating all
the available information across time in order to satisfy every critical need—for food,
water, warmth, safety, and reproduction, among others—is a very complex task. The
brain deals with it by parceling out components of the task to functional subsystems,
which can be categorized in a number of ways: anatomically (as described above),
chemically, and functionally.

The four major portions of the brain are the cerebrum, the cerebellum, the pons,
and the medulla oblongata. Our thoughts and our movements are controlled by
the cerebrum.

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Cerebrum:

The brain is composed of four main parts in that the cerebrum controls our thoughts.
Even while we are asleep, the cerebrum keeps working, producing thoughts. These
thoughts are our dreams. Often they don’t seem to make much sense, because they
pay little attention to time, or space, or place. But dreams are created by our brains, so
they must have some meaning.

The thoughts we have while we are awake are called conscious thoughts; those we
have while we are asleep are unconscious thoughts. The cerebrum also controls our
movements and sensations. The motor nerves that move our muscles are in the
cerebrum, and the sensory nerves that allow us to feel things are also in the cerebrum.

Research has revealed the fact that certain

areas of the brain are responsible for various
specific functions and these areas have been
carefully charted.
From experiments of this sort, doctors learned that
the signals or impulses that travel from one part of
the brain to another, or that travel along nerves to
and from the brain, work much the same way as
electricity travelling along an electric cord.

Of course, we know that the brain and its nerves

don’t have to be stimulated by electricity from the
outside. We can start our own “current,” without
any outside help at all. Here is an experiment that will show you how your brain
works:

Place the palm of your hand flat on the table. Now, think about lifting up your hand,
but don’t move it. When you see the numbers 1-2-3, lift up your hand.

1-2-3

Now let’s see exactly what happened. First the brain cells in your cerebrum told the
nerves going to your hand that you would soon send signals along them. When you
lifted your hand, your cerebrum started the signal that travelled to the cerebellum,
then to the pons, then to the medulla, then to the spinal cord and out to the nerves that
control the muscles in your hand and arm. And all this took place in the flash of a
second.

Close your eyes and think of a large airplane flying through a cloudy sky. Think hard
and imagine you are actually seeing it. And there it is!

What really happened was that your brain, all by itself, without paper or paint or
crayon or pencil, made that picture and you saw it clearly in your own mind.

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Teachers and scientists and doctors know that the brain does certain things
automatically, but if we want to develop it to its very best, we must train

The cerebrum can do other amazing things, too. For example, it can make imaginary
pictures and feel imaginary sensations.

Thinking of the brain:

Thinking are mental forms and processes, respectively. Thinking allows beings to
model the world and to deal with it effectively according to their objectives, plans,
ends and desires. Words referring to similar concepts and processes include cognition,
sentience, consciousness, idea, and imagination.

Thinking involves the mental manipulation of information, as when we form concepts,

engage in problem solving, reason and make decisions.

Thinking is a higher cognitive function and the analysis of thinking processes is part
of cognitive psychology

Basic process for thinking:

The basic mechanics of the human brain cells reflect a process of pattern matching or
rather recognition. In a "moment of reflection", new situations and new experiences
are judged against recalled ones and judgments are made. In order to make these
judgments, the intellect maintains present experience and sorts relevant past
experience. It does this while keeping present and past experience distinct and
separate. The intellect can mix, match, merge, sift, and sort concepts, perceptions, and
experience. This process is called reasoning. Logic is the science of reasoning. The
awareness of this process of reasoning is access consciousness (see philosopher Ned
Block).

The imagination performs a different function. It combines the reasoning intellect

with your feelings, intuitions and emotions, especially hope. This is magical or
irrational thinking, depending on your point of view. Thinking can be modeled by a
field (like a mathematical representation of an electro-magnetic field, but with each
point in the field a point of consciousness). Patterns are formed and judgments are
made within the field. Some philosophers (panpsychists/pan experientialists - see wiki
book on consciousness) believe the entire field is conscious in and of itself, a
consciousness field. They say consciousness creates thinking, thinking and other brain
processes do not create consciousness. Other scientists (for ex. Bernard Bars) think of
it as a workspace. No scientist claims to understand how we are conscious. Other
philosophers (ex. Thomas Nagel) have said they do not have a clue as to how we are
aware of our thinking.

The Brain thinking— Effects of Stroke

Your brain has three main components - the cerebrum (which consists of the left
and right cerebral hemispheres), the cerebellum, and the brain stem. The
cerebral hemispheres of the brain make up the largest part of your brain. The

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 cerebellum is the structure located behind the brain stem, and the brain stem is
the lowest section of the brain and is connected to the spinal cord.

Region of the Signs and Symptoms

Cerebrum Damaged
by Stroke
Wernicke's area (central Difficulty speaking understandably and
language area) comprehending speech; confusion between left
and right; difficulty reading, writing, naming
objects, and calculating
Broca's area (speech) Difficulty speaking and, sometimes, writing
Parietal lobe on the left Loss of coordination of the right arm and leg
side of the brain
Facial and limb areas of Paralysis of the right arm and leg and the right
the motor cortex on the side of the face
left side of the brain
Facial and arm areas of Absence of sensation in the right arm and the
the sensory cortex right side of the face Optic radiation Loss of the
right half of the visual field of both eyes

Precautions for good thinking of the brain:

1. Always get enough sleep. A tired brain doesn’t work very well.
2. Eat a good, balanced diet. Brain cells need more. nourishment than any other cells
in the entire body. A badly nourished body means a badly nourished brain, and a
badly nourished brain won’t function well.
3. Control your anger. It has been found that people who lose their temper all the
time, or who constantly fight and hate, develop brains that don’t function as well as
they might.

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4. Follow what your parents and teachers tell you. Listen carefully to what you are
told, whether at home or in school. It has been found that children who fail to pay
attention don’t learn well, and their brains never develop as well as they could.
5. Read lots of good books.
6. Look at good television shows, and listen to good radio shows, especially those that
can tell about new things.
7. Make as many friends as you can. Children with many good friends usually learn
much more than those who are lonely or without friends.
8. Try to get along well with your brothers and sisters. For some strange reason, the
brain doesn’t develop as well as it should if there is too much quarreling and fighting
and arguing in a family.
9. Tell your parents whenever something is bothering you greatly. It is not good for
your brain for you to worry too much, or be unhappy for too long a time. In most
cases, parents can help you solve your problem without too much trouble. If they
can’t, they will take you to a doctor or other counselor who will know how to help
you.

Quotes:
The more I think about it, the more I think I should think about it some more.
Adam Robinson
Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.
Benjamin Franklin

Presented by:
ZUBAIR
(06721A0560)