The nerve cells in your brain, also called neurons, produce chemicals known as neurotransmitters to carry the electrical impulses across the gap between nerve cells. Normal brain function requires a delicate balance between the...
You probably know that high cholesterol can clog your arteries. Persistently high cholesterol can also prevent your brain from working properly and raise the risk of developing neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. Every c...
Acetylcholine is a major neurotransmitter in the nervous system. It is required for memory, concentration and focus, and it also plays a role in muscle coordination. Acetylcholine is not a component of foods; instead, it is bu...
People who begin practicing yoga often notice immediate mental results, such as reduced stress and worry, a broader perspective, and a feeling of calm and relaxation, in addition to the physical rewards of decreased muscular te...
Neurotransmitters carry messages between nerve cells in the brain, affecting your moods and decisions. The brain chemicals stimulate you, calm you down or help you to concentrate. Substances in certain foods and drinks can boos...
Good nutrition during the first trimester of pregnancy especially is important for the proper development of the fetal brain. The nervous system of an unborn baby has begun to form often before the mother has even discovered th...
Without having to think about it, your brain keeps everything in your body working properly. To enhance your brain function, you should eat various foods to keep your brain fueled with valuable nutrition. Taking time to add bra...
Improving your memory requires making an active decision to do so. Whether you're studying for an exam or just want to boost your day-to-day ability to store and recall information, by using certain techniques and making key li...
The human brain acts like "a powerful computer" that controls how people move, think and react, according to the Science Kids website explains. To protect this vital organ, more than 20 bones join together to create a protectiv...
The phrase, "I think therefore I am," written by Rene Descartes in 1637, expressed the philosophy at that time in history. According to "Memory: From Mind to Molecules," the statement proved to be incorrect from biological stud...
Over time, brain size has increased dramatically. It has become more specialized, plastic and hierarchical than the brain of any other species. Because of this, humans are able to adapt to many different kinds of environments, ...
Many sound features, such as loudness and frequency, are processed at these lower levels before sound reaches the brain. The brain is responsible for interpreting and giving meaning to these sounds. When sound waves enter
Explaining the human brain to your child may seem overwhelming, but it can be a fun way to introduce your child to science and biology. The human brain is best understood by breaking it down into manageable sections and through...
It plays a major role in preparing the body for a fight-or-flight reaction in threatening environments. An adrenaline rush is a sudden increase in the secretion of adrenaline from the adrenal glands. This happens when the brain...
"The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking." --Albert Einstein
Thinking exists as the top mental activity demonstrated by man. All human accomplishments and ad...
Years of research show that soft, slow, methodical music and words--such as those of a lullaby--can lull the mind to sleep by inducing delta waves in the brain. "Music exists in every culture, and infants have excellent musical...
Once in the brain, these parasites can cause a variety of symptoms and conditions. The parasites typically interfere with the normal function of the human brain. Any parasitic infection that affects the brain is typically diffi...
Modern society allows you far more choices than your ancestors had. One of the consequences is that proper decision making has become more important than ever before. Unfortunately, many people make sudden, life-ruining decisio...
When faced with a menacing threat, your brain's stress response system harnesses your body's energy resources in order to help you get out of harm's way. In the short-term, this response keeps you safe. If, however, your stress...
The brain is an amazing organ. It is responsible for everything we think, see and do. The different components interact like a precision machine, processing and sending signals with the efficiency of a powerful computer. The bi...
The human brain is an extremely complex organ that functions as the control center of the entire body. According to National Geographic, the human brain weighs approximately three pounds. The brain is one of the body's larges...
Since the publication of Cousins' ground-breaking results, numerous other studies have been conducted. The results indicate that mirthful laughter can stimulate the brain's regulation of hormones that control mood, stress, bloo...
The brain is an active muscle that you engage during every activity and thought process. As you age, you may notice that your brain isn't quite as resilient or responsive as it used to be. Performing exercises for your brain ca...
The human brain is part of the central nervous system. The brain is protected by the skull on the outside and meninges, a three-layer membrane, on the inside. The average weight of an adult brain is about 3 lbs. An interruption...
The human brain regulates most organ function and is responsible for thought, memory, speech and movement, according to MedlinePlus. There are a number of different conditions that can affect the brain; they can be genetic or a...
The brain processes music differently than other stimuli, making it important for scientists to understand the effects of music on the brain.
The exact effects of music on the brain are barely understood. The "Mozart Effect," which proposes that listening to Mozart increases intelligence, gained widespread attention in recent history--even leading Georgia Governor Ze...
Studying laughter is difficult since it doesn’t occur easily or naturally in the laboratory setting. Studying gelotology, the science of laughter, and knowing the effects that laughter has on the brain could prove valuabl...
Jenkins, M.D., in an article published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. However, despite the fact that music does not increase intelligence, music does affect the brain.
The brain is the human body's control center. The largest part of the brain is the cerebral cortex, which can be divided into symmetrical left and right brain hemispheres. The right brain processes information in an intuitive,...
Sound is converted to an electrical signal when it enters the ear. This signal travels up the auditory nerve to the part of the brain that processes sound, the auditory cortex. From there, the signals travel throughout the brai...
According to the New Scientist website, the human brain is the body's most complex organ, containing about 100 billion neurons, which are the nerve cells that control and coordinate everything a person does, feels and thinks.
The human brain is the most sophisticated organ in the known universe. It is so complex that relatively little was understood about its functions until recent advances in brain physiology provided greater insight. Many of these...
Cerebral edema is the medical term for brain swelling. By definition, it is an increase in the amount of water in the brain, according to Dr. Jeffrey Frank in "Principles of Critical Care." It can cause part of the brain to shi...
You create memories as a result of your brain functioning correctly. When you pay attention to information, your brain will create memories and place them in storage for later retrieval and use. You can increase your ability to...
Despite the fact that we have yet to identify where certain memories are located in the brain, we have learned a lot about the brain's structures that are involved in memory. Moreover, we can now identify many neurotransmitters...
Drugs change the way nerve cells in the human brain send, receive and transfer information. Their effects depend on the chemical structure of the drug, but all have some influence on the pleasure circuit of the brain's limbic s...
The human brain is an extremely complex organ which, among many other things, controls blood pressure and heart rate, interprets the senses, initiates body movement, and is the home of emotions and intelligence. The adult human...
The human brain is a fascinating and complex organ, capable of not only running your body's essential systems, but also producing intricate memories and the ability to engage in abstract thought. The human brain has a gelatinou...
The senses of smell, taste, vision, hearing and touch enable perception and interaction with the external environment. Dedicated areas of the brain receive and interpret input from the sense organs of the body. Disruption of an...
About 2 million years ago, a human brain was half the size of today's human brain. Your brain controls everything about you: breathing, thought, movement and interaction with others. Animals have brains that look similar to the...
"We have been making music since the dawn of culture," says Norman Weinberger of Scientific American Magazine. "More than 30,000 years ago, early humans were already playing bone flutes, percussive instruments and jaw harps--an...
Your brain receives information from the rest of your body in the form of electrical signals. The brain then integrates the information and generates electrical signals of its own, sending directions that allow you to move, rea...
The brain is an amazing organ that weighs about 3 lbs. and is encased in a protective layer of bone called the skull. The brain is the central feature of the human body, and adds dimensions such as personality and emotions to l...
The human brain is far more than gray mass taking up space in your skull. The cerebral cortex, brain stem and cerebellum make up the parts of the brain. These parts function individually, yet work together and make it possible ...
Many different things can affect brain function, from infection, to trauma, to metabolic imbalances, but only a few of them are deadly. Most of these deadly diseases are equal opportunity, infecting just as many people from Fi...
The human brain weighs about 3 lbs. and contains 100 billion neurons and even more glial cells, according to Neuroscience For Kids, a University of Washington website. The brain has three major divisions, which contain differen...
The human brain weighs between 1.3 and 1.4 kilograms and has 100 billion neurons, which are the cells in the brain that transmit electrical signals. But neurons are not the only cells found in the brain. The other groups of cel...
The brain is made up of a series of nerve cells called neurons. Neurons are responsible for controlling cognition, muscle movement, sensory information and emotions. Neurons are able to communicate with each other using small j...
Like a computer, the human brain requires proper input for it to function appropriately. Since the brain is a biological organ, this input consists of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that contribute to cellular growth an...
Various parts of the brain have specialized functions. The cerebral cortex, for example, is primarily responsible for forming memories. However, brain processes such as memory, our senses, movement and language are complex and ...
Each hemisphere has all four lobes of the brain--frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe and occipital lobe--but also has specialized functions. The two human brain hemispheres are connected by the corpus callosum, which all...
Early brain studies looked at the gross anatomy of the brain and then cut into the brain (a process known as dissection) to examine the interior of the brain. In some cases, thin slices of tissue were examined under a microscop...
The human brain is a complex organ and is responsible for relaying information to the other parts of the body. For example, the brain is involved in memory, thinking, voluntary and involuntary movements. Multiple components mak...
The brain is the central processing system in the human body and helps to co-ordinate, communicate and maintain many of the vital functions and processes, including consciousness, emotions and behavior. The brain is able to pro...
The Connecticut Clearinghouse adds that stimulants also increase activity in both the brain and spinal cord. Many stimulants are abused, like cocaine and methamphetamines, which have short-term and long-term effects on the brain.
The entire body and all its functions, voluntary and involuntary, are managed by a combination of the right and left hemispheres of the brain and the lobes housed in each. The left hemisphere is in charge of the right side of t...
The brain can be divided in to several regions based on physiological characteristics and physical divisions. The central nervous system is generally broken into the fore-brain which includes the cerebrum, the mid- and hind-bra...
The human brain controls how we interpret and integrate everything that is going on around and inside of us. The brain is divided into various sections with their own functions.
The human brain produces a number of "feel good" chemicals--from serotonin and dopamine, to norepinephrine, GABA and endorphins--all of which work together in to produce feelings of well-being.
When levels of these "feel good" ...
The human brain produces a number of "feel good" chemicals--from serotonin and dopamine, to norepinephrine, GABA and endorphins--all of which work together in to produce feelings of well-being.
When levels of these "feel good" ...
The human brain is habit forming by design. Every new skill or experience creates a new pathway in the brain. Repeating something reinforces it, complete with the pleasure of the event. The brain cannot distinguish a good habi...
However, there is speculation about these numbers, as the disorder is difficult to diagnose. The disorder is the human condition of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as "Mad Cow Disease."
