Ceyla
Ceyla
Mr. De Groot
7th grade English
March 15, 2024
What Makes the Brain so Important?
The brain is the most complicated organ in the body. The body couldn't do anything without the brain (naturally). The brainstem connects the brain to the spinal cord/ rest of the body. It transports information to and from the brain. The title “brain dead” often means a dead brain stem. Dead brain stems are often caused by high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, or bad accidents.
Let's talk about neurons. A Neuron is a nerve cell that sends messages to and from places in the brain. The cerebellum has been guessed to have around 101 billion neurons, and 120 billion neurons in the brain total.
The brain controls a lot of functions in your body, not all though.
Not everything is controlled by the brain, although it may seem that way. The involuntary system, a part of the nervous system, works without the brain. Involuntary actions happen without us even thinking about it. For instance, breathing, blinking, digesting food, a heartbeat, or even a sneeze. Reflexes enter this category as well; reflexes are fast movements in response to stimuli (Changes in environment, lights, sounds). The brian DOES control thought, emotion, memory, touch,and vision.
The body couldn't do anything without the brain (naturally). The brainstem connects the brain to the spinal cord/rest of the body. It transports information to and from the brain. The title “brain dead” often means a dead brain stem. Dead brain stems are often caused by high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, or bad accidents.
Surgeons are often amazed and surprised by some of the information they figure out!
The longest ever brain surgery took 4 days (103 hours) ? A team of 20 doctors took on the challenge of separating 2 twins conjoined at the head. Both girls survived the rough surgery and live happily without each other today. "During the course of the surgery, we found that the two brains were so closely adherent to each other that we had to individually coagulate, separate, and divide the blood vessels that were going between the two brains and all the brain tissue that was adherent.", says Dr. Keith Goh, who led the operation. Although the operation was explained to be very difficult and time consuming, it's what they do and they love doing it!
The brain is so cool to study, but takes a lot of patience and understanding. Still so much to learn about the brain. Scientists are learning more every day.
Website 1: British Neuroscience Association. ABOUT NEUROSCIENCE. British Neuroscience Association, bna.org. Accessed 14 Feb. 2024.
Website 2: Brazier, Yvette. What is Neuroscience? Yvette Brazier, 2018, medicalnewstoday.com. Accessed 13 Feb. 2024.
Website 3: Psychology Today . What is Neuroscience? Psychology Today, psychologytoday.com. Accessed 14 Feb. 2024.