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Throughout the history of mankind many scholars have pondered the question about the nature of the human cognitive abilities. Before the era of neuroanatomy human mind and emotions were thought to be originated in the heart. It was Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) one of the first Greek philosopher who said that the intellect rested in the brain. Later Hippocrates realized and the gave brain the status it needed. His famous quotes changed the view of brain in the human history : "Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations."
Thus it is now known that human cognitive abilities come from Brain. Brain is a part of central nervous system of the body. To understand brain: One must first understand what it is made up of-"neurons".
Neuron: It is structural and functional unit of the nervous system. It is an excitable specialized secretory cell with unique polarized structure. Though there are many type of neurons in human nervous system; typical the neuron consists of receiving unit (dentrites), processing unit (cell body), transportation unit (axon), and transmission unit (presynaptic axon terminal). [See Diagram below: Typical Neuron]
Typical Neuron
Neurons communicate with each other via neurotransmitters (synapse)
Neural circuits are interconnected neurons which get activated/deactivated during particular task. Example: Neural circuits in Basal ganglia. Some scientists prefer the term neuronal activity rather than neural circuits to explain the mechanism in neuroscience. Particular circuits are activated in the brain when we are engaged in a task and hence activity of different regions in brain changes. Those involved in the circuit being active while others being relatively silent; using functional imaging techniques to map those areas and studying the brain potentials along with neuroanatomical knowledge (see picture below for brain region nomenclature) can help us find the circuits which perform that task.
Nomenclature of Brain Regions
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