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How the brain works is still a mystery, but there are some basic facts that are known. Believing that knowledge is power to a brain injured person, Beth and I want to give you a little information about the brain - your brain.
Photo licensed from iStockphoto |
Brain cells, or neurons, can be compared to the Internet.
The Internet is a whole bunch of computers connected to other computers using a type of wired connection. |
Even wireless computer systems must connect to one computer that is wired. Information is passed from computer to computer using electrical impulses.
Information is passed in the brain using electrical impulses. Guess what? It's mostly wireless! In the photo above those bigger things with all the arms and legs are the neuron, or brain cell.
The arms and legs sticking out of the brain cell are like wires that carry electrical impulses. They're called axons. Axons don't touch one another; see, they're wireless. Instead, they shoot a chemical across a space to another axon. That space is called a synapse.
While no one has actually counted brain cells, there are billions of them inside your head. No one uses all of them. And we've all run across people that make us wonder if they use any of them!
Many brain functions like seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling are on automatic. We don't have a thought saying, "I'd like to see now." There are semi-automated functions like walking or talking.
We do have a thought saying, "I'd like to walk now," or "I'd like to talk now." But we are not required to think "toes up, knee bend, hip swivel forward, heel down." Imagine trying to think of all the muscles you would need to send a message to just to take a step.
Brain Organization
The brain has one of the most efficient filing systems in existence. Let's say you are at a mid-December football game, eating a hot dog, watching the players on the field (or the cheerleaders on the side line), listening to the band and cheering for your team.
The brain is receiving information from your eyes, ears, nose, skin and mouth. Your skin is saying something like, "Boy, why didn't I stay home in my warm house?" That information is coming to the brain from your working (or, short term) memory.
Information stays in your working memory only for a few seconds while your brain decides what to do with it. You know, should that information be filed away in a vault for safekeeping, or placed in a temporary file cabinet near the trash can?
The brain decides if the incoming information should be stored in the Eye Vault, the Hearing Vault, etc. You will then reinforce some of that incoming information as you talk about it driving home after the game. At work on Monday someone will ask about your weekend, and you'll tell them about the game.
You can do that because your brain stored it and you have a key to retrieving it. football game I still remember a football game Beth and I went to in 1971. For one thing, Arkansas was playing Texas, our number one rival, and Texas was ranked number one in the nation at the time. Arkansas won! That added a lot of power to that memory. We didn't beat Texas very often, so it was one of those "remember this forever" things.
But there's more to the story. It was raining that day. Beth and I bought a couple Razorback Red hats to keep the rain off our head. No, we did not buy the hog heads. We should have, but we got hats made of a felt-like material. Of course, the rain destroyed those hats. But, even more memorable, Beth's blonde hair had pink streaks in it for weeks!
You very probably have similar memories because of the way your brain works. It has an amazing system for filing and storing things we experience.
While you may not really need to know about neurons, axons and synapses to experience your wonderful brain, isn't it good to know that your brain is one of the most powerful things on earth.
Part Two of this discussion will be Oops, We've Got a Problem.
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