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How Your Brain Works
One Complex Human Organ Changed an Entire Planet
by Esmeralda Ramirez, age 12
Your brain is the structure inside your head that controls
your entire body— your actions, emotions, and even thoughts.
The brain is part of the Central Nervous System, which also
includes the spine. The nervous system is like our body’s hot line. It
carries messages from the brain to every muscle and organ inside of your
body. Your nerves connect the brain to other parts of your body. All
nerves stem from the Central Nervous System.
There
are many parts to the brain, and they each control something different.
The pinkish gray walnut-like mass has two sides, a left and a right
side. What is quite cool, however, is that the left side of your brain
controls your entire right side, and the right side controls the left.
This means that if you are left-handed the right side of the brain is
dominant. And if you’re right-handed, the left side of your brain is
dominant.
The left side of the brain controls speech.
The right side generally controls awareness of space. Because of this
some people believe that if you’re left-handed you’re likely to be good
at art and design.
Aside from the left and right
hemispheres of the brain that perform their own tasks, the brain is also
made up of distinct structures with distinct functions. The part of the
brain that allows us to see things is called the Visual Cortex. It is
located at the back of the brain. The Cerebral Cortex sends and receives
signals to move parts of your body. Thinking and planning happens in
the frontal lobe of your brain. The Pituitary Gland controls important
hormones in your body.
The brain is the most
important organ in your body. It has many working parts, and each
performs different functions. Working together, these functions
contribute to the high intellectual capabilities of the human brain. It
is the brain’s complex features that have allowed us to become the most
intelligent species in the food chain.
[Source:
The Big Book of Knowledge
]
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