conesus...

the brain explorer

Your Brain is the centerpiece of your existence. Functionally, it can be split into two distinct categories that complement each other in all activities of your day.

The Brain that powers you, that mesh of flesh is one of the most complex organs in your body, and also one of the most responsive. It is a thing that can be weighed, measured, looked at, and studied. On the surface, most human brains look pretty much the same: light-pink-and-grayish-white, wrinkled, and squishy.

Alternatively, your mind is open and free. It is a window into all that is thought, and uses the physical attributes of your brain to function. You can't pick up a mind, toss it into a jar, and label it. Humans are conscious beings. We share a common experience of a sense of self, of conscious awareness - a trait some believe is uniquely human - yet the quest to explain consciousness is one of the last remaining great adventures of science, philosophy, and religion.

Here on The Brain Explorer, as humans, we explore the Brain, the Mind, physical & psychological, in an interactive method using a wide range of resources. And of course, as a human yourself, you're fully entitled to explore with others, even those who are over 13,500 miles away. Just be sure to check out the Interactive section of the site, because with over 20 activities you can participate in with other brain-holders, your brain will never get dull.

Link: The Brain Explorer [thinkquest.org]

dissect the anatomy

To the average person, a human brain looks like a shrivelled up pink prune with the feel of a hard-boiled egg. While the chances of winning a beauty contest are quite miniscule, your brain's structural complexity has sparked intrigue and challenged many scientists for centuries. So what exactly is this three-pound-pile-of-mush anyways?

compare side dominances

Just as some people are left-handed or right-handed, have a dominant right or left eye, chances are they probably have a brain hemisphere as well. So what does it mean to be "left-brain" or "right-brain" dominant? What the heck does "left-brain" or "right-brain" mean in the first place?

reveal disorders

Because of the brain's crucial role in the functioning of the body, layers of protection heavily guard it - the cerebrospinal fluid cushions, the surrounding three layers of meninges barricade, and finally everything is encased in a hard, solid cranium. So what happens when disease strikes or illness attacks? Disaster. By crippling the brain, illness cripples the body, the mind - the control centre of one's existence. While some brain disorders are milder than others, they all hinder our everyday functions and interrupt our lives. Vast research has been made to successfully treat people who suffer from brain disorders and allow them to cope and live as normal lives as possible. But, until cures for these disorders are found, the battle continues.

learn about surgery

Brain surgery was started millions of years ago. Starting from Neolithic (late Stone Age), ancient people had tried to work on the brain. Neolithic skulls from around the world showed holes on them trepanned. The holes have smooth edges and exhibit obvious signs of healing on them. Trepanning was practiced until comparatively recent times in Europe. Discovered remains under the earth of successful brain operations and also surgical equipment were found in France. It is shown that ancient people already had an idea to heal the brain by surgical treatment. In nowadays, people continue to work on brain surgery. How much do you know about the history of brain surgery? What are brain tumors? How many different kinds of brain tumors are there? How are we going to treat them?

study the medicine

Brain diseases can be helped by different kinds of medicine. From ancient times onward, people had tried hard to study and make medicine to ease the suffering of ailing. As a result, in nowadays, different kinds of medicine are able to diagnose, prevent and treat certain types of diseases. Medicine has changed a lot in the last 100 years. There are many medicines treating brain diseases. Drugs that stimulate the functions of our body, particularly those that stimulate the brain and the central nervous system are called stimulants. Stimulants can be used medically to manage with sleep disorders, to control appetite or to fight against depression. Most of the drugs have side effects, but the side effects are generally mild and the drugs are effective, therefore people are still using them.

go back through history

From early Stone Age man to modern day scientists, the brain has never ceased to intrigue humankind. For centuries, philosophers, physicians, researchers and countless others have been challenged and puzzled by the mysteries of the brain. Whether views were based on keen observation or imaginative inferences, the ideas of pioneer investigators have been challenge, accepted and rejected throughout history. Regardless, had it not been for these ideas, knowledge of the brain would have never become what it is today. The following timeline explores some of the revolutionary ideas and discoveries of the past that have shaped modern man's understanding of the brain.

measure intelligence

The animal kingdom is filled with species of varying intelligence. We all know humans are smarter than, let’s say... a caterpillar or a cow. Our intelligence demonstrates itself in our unique ability to build skyscrapers, create music, measure the distance from the earth to the sun, split the nucleus of an atom, as well as be the most advanced living organism on the planet. But, what exactly is this "smartness" that we possess? How do we define intelligence? If this question has you thinking too hard, it should.

reveal the brain's aging

As people grow old through the passage of time, there are many obvious physical changes that can be seen by an observer. Their hair turns grey or is lost, wrinkles form on their face . . . but what about our brains? What happens to our brains when we age and why does this process occur?

brain power

Do you often hear people saying that their memories are becoming worse and worse as they grow up? How do you feel about this problem? Is it really that our memories are deteriorating? Is there anything we can do to treat this problem? In fact, every one of us has the ability to recall our brain and the potential to stretch our mind. This is what is called as brain power. If we don't use our brain, our brain is going to get rusty. Therefore we need to use it and challenge it everyday in your life. Our brain will remain creative and efficient only if we use it in the best way and keep it in a good shape.

logic

If A = C, then A + B = C + B. This is one of the examples of logic. I just want to give you a basic idea of what "logic" really is. I bet everyone understand how did the above example work out, right?

creativity

Everyone of us are born to be creative, are born to have unlimited potential for creating. But as we grow up, we give away more and more of our creative potential. As a child, we lose up to 75% of our creativity. By the time we are 40, we are nearly expressing less than 2% of the measurable creativity we demonstrated as children. Therefore, we must reawaken our ability to be creative with practice and encouragement, which are not familiar to most of us. When you are being creative, you are not necessarily doing something that no one else have done before, yet you are doing something we have never done it before.

dreams & sleep

Everyone needs to sleep. We can't live without sleep. How much do you know about sleep? What is the purpose of sleep? During sleep, our mind always seems to unfold a story or some other events. What are they? These episodes are generally called dreams. Everyone dreams, not only human beings do, but also in other mammals including dogs, elephants and monkeys. What are dreams signifying? Why do we have dreams? How do we dream? These questions have puzzled mankind and have not yet been clarified for over hundreds of years.

memory

Ah, memories...the places and faces of the past that make us say, "those were the days". But wait, that's not what memory is all about. There are other types of memory, like remembering your e-mail address, a song, and even walking. Now, knowing how to walk seems kind of common sense and automatic right? It doesn't even appear like we actually need to remember that. Yet, this process had to be learned, which brings up another aspect of memory - it is crucial to learning. So what exactly is memory? How do we remember? And what the heck does it have to do with learning? Hmm . . . so many questions I will have to remember to answer.

senses

What is sense? It is a faculty, which external and internal stimuli are sent to the brain, where they are expressed as sensations. We, humans know and learn more about the world through our senses. Basically, the five special senses that we commonly know are sight, sound, smell, taste and touch respectively. All of them are concerned with the outer world, in which external stimuli are received and conducted by sensory receptors in the eye, the ear, the nose and the taste buds on the tongue. How do they work in the brain? What is the sensory receptor for?

moods & emotion

We, human beings have the ability to explain, to remember, to learn and to make ideas or decisions. Our mind is able to lead us to reach our goals. Human beings are motivated by different feelings. Yet these feelings are motivating human in different ways. As I have mentioned before, our mind can lead us to reach our goals, in other words, we are motivated by reason and intelligence. But desires and passions can also motivated us powerfully, yet in a different way that reason and intelligence do.

aging of the mind

As the brain ages, our thinking, memory, and learning, among other things, are often affected. It becomes more difficult to grasp new concepts or retrieve old ones. Moreover, our senses begin to deteriorate - vision becomes less clear, smell becomes less sensitive, and hearing degenerates. So what can we do to keep our minds healthy and "young"?

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