The brain is an incredibly complex organ, responsible for managing everything from breathing and physical coordination to logic, language and artistic expression. While all animals have brains, they don't all possess the higher reasoning and...
Cognition refers to the higher order functions that are needed for learning and interacting with a person's environment. Each human brain is capable of multiple cognitive functions, such as memory, attention, executive functions and language. Each...
A 2010 paper in "Physics of Life Reviews" speculates that the vocalizations of ancient humans have developed into two forms. The first type is more concrete and became language. The second type is more emotional and became music. The human brain...
As a child is growing, different parts of his brain specialize in different language-related functions. Thus, the left hemisphere typically begins to process most aspects of linguistic function while the right hemisphere specializes in other...
There are many important parts of the external brain. The surface of the human brain consists of two main parts: the cerebrum and the cerebellum. The cerebrum has many specialized areas that are associated with high-order cognitive functioning...
Scientists divide the brain into three major parts: the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the brain stem, according to the Mayfield Clinic. They divide the cerebrum into four lobes: the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital. Subdivisions of these...
A stroke occurs when the brain's blood flow is compromised in some way, depriving brain tissue of the oxygen it needs to survive. The American Stroke Association reports that no two strokes present exactly the same way; however, there may be...
The brain is the home of complex processes such as memory, language and attention. Neuroscientists have long believed that these higher-order functions are associated with distinct areas in the brain. But no single area in the brain is responsible...
Scientists have learned a lot about where and how brains process language by studying people who have lost their ability to produce or understand language after an accident or illness. Modern methods of neuroscience such as functional magnetic...
The cerebrum, which is the largest part of the brain, is divided into two hemispheres--the left hemisphere and right hemisphere. Each hemisphere has all four lobes of the brain--frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe and occipital lobe--but...
Seizures occur when a group of nerves in the brain suddenly produce a surge of electrochemical impulses. This surge in brain activity interrupts normal functions resulting in symptoms thatoften mimic a stroke. A stroke, also a neurological event,...
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the brain is the most complex part of the human body. The brain is responsible for bodily functions and converting sensory information into motor reactions. The...
The brain controls multiple bodily functions, ranging from simple to high-level tasks. Each part of the brain is responsible for separate duties, but they interact with each other through neural connections. The brain can be divided into three...
The human brain is an exquisitely complex and highly organized organ. The forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain comprise the three functional regions of the brain. Within each region, individual lobes and structures exist, which control specific...
The brain, an organ weighing approximately 3 pounds, initiates movement, interprets sensory input, provides intelligence and controls behavior. The cerebrum, found in the forebrain, is the largest and most highly developed part of the brain,...
In "The Cognitive Neurosciences III", there are over 1000 pages devoted to explaining the relationship between mind and brain. At the most general level, human cognitive processing occurs in the cortex, the outer layer of the brain composed of...
When an infant is born, her brain already has the approximately 100 million neurons that are present in a healthy adult brain. In the first year of life, those neurons grow and form connections at remarkable speed. In fact, by her first birthday,...
The brain is the body's decision and communication center. It controls every part of a person's daily life, from breathing to learning and from perception to speaking. Although scientists have a clear understanding of where and how people process...
The auditory overload of a lecture may overwhelm a right-brained thinker but a left-brained student will likely thrive in such an environment. Conversely, the left-brained student may be uncomfortable participating in a group art project while...
The brain is divided vertically from front to back. While appearing like mirror images, there is some functional division between the lobes. These divisions are not absolute. In some people, the functions are reversed from side to side, while in...
The brain is considered to be the most complex organ and system of the human body. It averages, according to Neurosurgery Today, 2.7 pounds for women and 3 pounds for men. The brain is the seat of all interpretive sensory experience, thought and...
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that arises when a person is subjected to an overwhelming experience of trauma. "The American Psychiatric Association in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV states that...
The National Institute of Mental Health says that hearing voices or auditory hallucinations--hearing something that no one else can--is common for people with schizophrenia. In "Scientific American Mind," Bettina Thraenhardt, a psychologist and...
Higher-order thinking skills distinguish humans from all other creatures. These skills include the capacity for comprehension and utilization of spoken and written language, as well as the executive functions. The executive functions encompass the...
Autism is a neurobiological disorder characterized by impairments in reciprocal social skills, as well as verbal and nonverbal language. Odd, repetitive behavior is also one of the defining symptoms of this disorder, says the Diagnostic and...
The brain is a highly complex organ divided into specialized regions, each responsible for a specific function. A stroke is a lack of blood supply to the brain and can damage particular areas, resulting in a variety of impairments involving...
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke, a coma is a profound state of unconsciousness that can also be called a persistent vegetative state. A comatose patient is alive, but does not respond to any environmental...
Broca's aphasia is a type of aphasia, a condition resulting from a brain injury to areas responsible for language. Broca's aphasia results from damage to the frontal lobe from occurrences such as stroke, brain injury or brain tumor. A sufferer of...
