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Nicholas C. Taylor H. Canyon S.
 * Exploing The Brain**

Every day, humans use an extraordinary organ in their heads: [|the brain]. The brain is made up of billions of neurons, which together create a network of about one quadrillion connections. This amazing amount of connections gives the brain the ability to control the entire body and its emotions. There are not only neurons in the human brain, but other physical components that allow humans to talk, express themselves, and posses emotions. These physical components are what makes humans rise above all other animals, since these give humans the ability to change their environment, communicate with others, and interact with the world. In //A Whole New Mind, // by Daniel Pink, the opinion that the right brain will rule the future is introduced, since the mundane left-brained society is coming to a close. Daniel Pink explores the advantages of having and using a whole brain that uses both sides, resulting in the best brain man has had yet. Since technology is fast overcoming human intelligence, Daniel Pink's opinion is that the people who can use both sides of the brain will be better off in a technology-driven society where creativity will be needed more than ever before. The brain is a malleable organ, that changes when changes occur in daily life. To fully understand how extraordinary the brain is, one needs a full understanding of the two hemispheres of the brain, the physical components, and how external stimulants affect the structure of the brain.

Over time, as the brain developed and added new sections, the brain became clearly defined into two halves or hemispheres. These hemispheres are the left and the right and they both do the same job; however, they approach it two very different ways, which is one of the reasons the human brain is so interesting. Along with controlling the body, the brain also controls a human's thinking. For some unknown reason the brain, through development, forged [|two hemispheres]; one which controls the logical thinking and the other that controls creative thinking. The left hemisphere of the brain reasons logically, excels at analysis, and handles language. This side of the brain is most commonly associated with math, science, and other subjects that require a lot of logical processing. It also recognizes sequential events as well as analyzing the things for what they are. On the contrary the right hemisphere recognizes events out of order and interprets and gives emotional context to the things. As far back to [|Hippocrates] all the way up to the 1950's, people had been gathering evidence that the left brain was superior. "These discoveries helped produce a convenient and compelling syllogism. Language is what separates man from beast. Language resides in the left side of the brain. Therefore the left side of the brain is what makes us human"(Pink 14). Many people today however, disagree. New studies have shown that while the left side is more logical, the right hemisphere is the creative side; it reasons holistically, recognizes patters, and is the side that interprets emotions. This means that in today's society, where a computer can perform tons of calculations more quickly than any human, creativity and interpreting emotions is needed more than ever before. Also, a new experiment by [|Roger W. Sperry] concluded that since our cerebral hemispheres control the opposite side of the body, if one side of the brain is damaged, the opposite side of the body is affected, so both hemispheres are needed for our body to work correctly. With these results it proved to people that neither side of the brain was dominant over the other but, instead that they were equal and just different from each other. These two sides of the brain are also important because they can control what kind of thinker and [|learner a person is], logical or creative. Each type has its benefits and drawbacks which is one more reason that, as Daniel Pink describes in his book //[|A Whole New Mind] //, whoever can learn to master both sides will be much better off than others.

The human brain is made up of 100 billion nerve cells, which are called [|neurons]. The neuron's role is to gather and transmit electrochemical signals, similar to a computer's wires and gates. These neurons travel across hemispheres to send each other messages. Different areas of the brain control different aspects of human behavior. For example; the ability to make movement in your body is controlled by a thin strip of brain going from the top of the head to where the ear is. A stroke or a hard hit to that are of the brain would paralyze the opposite side of the body; For example, if the left motor strip was damaged, then the right side of the body would be unable to move, and same for the opposite side. Many people believe that their heads are full of billions of random brain cells that clash and make connections on their own, but this is not true. The [|**brain is very organized**] each section of the brain deals with its own focus, and each section has the ability to communicate with other sections of the brain and make decisions. Of the population, 95 percent of people write with their right hand, which means that 95 percent of people are most dominant in the left temporal lobe. The temporal lobe deals with understanding language and sounds, so the right-handed population understands hearing and language mostly through the left temporal lobe. Another part of the brain is the frontal lobes, which are located at the front of the brain. The frontal lobes deal with planning, organizing, emotions, and motivation, and the frontal lobe gives us the ability to go step by step in a process, like cooking a meal. Since the frontal lobe is located at the front of the brain, is very vulnerable to injuries. Somebody who has been hit is the frontal lobe may often forget steps in a process. The frontal lobe also controls the emotions that our primal instincts are telling us to do. For example; when you are angry at somebody your instinct is to punch them in the face, but your frontal lobe helps you to say no to that urge and explain why that may not be a great idea. Many people don't know that your body is moved and felt using opposite sides of the brain. For example, if you were to place your hand on somebody's left arm they would recognize it with the right side of their brain. Your brain controls the body across hemispheres. The hindbrain is another very important section of the brain, the hindbrain is located in the back of the brain. The Hindbrain includes the spinal cord, the [|**medulla oblongata**], and the cerebellum. The [|**spinal cord**] is made of millions of nerves that connect to the brain. It is a long and thin cord running from the back to the Hindbrain. the spinal cord is what allows the brain to control the movement of the body. The medulla oblongata is what controls autonomic functions, these are actions that we don't have to think about; such as breathing or digestion. The medulla serves as a relay man with the spinal cord to the rest of the body. Finally, the cerebellum deals with all finer movements. These finer movements include balance, coordination and posture. The cerebellum also is what allows us to learn new movements. So every time we learn a sport or move, we are using the cerebellum. Everything humans do is controlled by the connections in the brain, and these are affected daily by the interactions and actions someone has in a day.

The way the brain works fascinates many neurologists who study it, and one of the biggest mysteries is how the brain can adapt to different situations, or be changed altogether. The answer is that the brain has the ability to rewire itself, so that it can function better with its environment. For example, football players have a different set of pain receptors in their brains, which allow them to ignore their injuries, and to keep playing. Ballet dancers have the same brain rewiring, as explained in Discovery Channel's [|The Human Body: Pushing the Limit] segment on pain tolerance. With repeated practice, while ignoring the pain, athletes and dancers who subject themselves to pain are able to ignore the pain signals flooding their brains, and keep going. The amount of pain some athletes willingly go through would be large enough that a regular person would faint, but because of the external stimulants they put themselves through, athletes' brains are able to rewire themselves. Another aspect of people's daily lives that affect the brain are video games. Studies have shown that people with [|Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder] (PTSD) from war experiences, can benefit from violent war games in which they can win the game without suffering loss like they did during war. But for people who are lucky enough not to go through that, scientists think that video games are [|not healthy] for the brain. Studies have shown that people who play hours upon hours of video games have shorter attention spans, personal communication skills are reduced and there's a large reduction in the ability to think abstractly. There is also an attitude that suggests that things haven't really happened until they are posted on Facebook, YouTube, and other such community sites. The brain is a [|malleable] object, and people don't know that what they do in their daily lives and how they spend their time affect the way their brains look and work. One way the brain is changed is simply through imagination. There was a study conducted at Harvard Medical school, where people who had never played the piano were split into three groups. The first group was taken into a room with the piano and given intense piano lessons and practice for five days. The second group was taken into a room with an identical piano in it, but did an activity not relating to the piano. The third group was told to simply imagine themselves playing the piano, having lessons, performing, and so on. When the scientists conducting this experiment looked at the brain structures of the participants before and after, the second group had no change. Unsurprisingly, the first group had major changes in the part of the brain relating to finger movement. But what was most surprising was that the people who simply imagined themselves playing had almost the same amount of change in their brain structures as the first group. This shows that something does not actually have to happen to a person in order for their brains to change in the way they think. External stimulants change the way we think, and to fully understand the brain, one needs to realize that anything they do affects what goes on in their heads, both in the moment they do it, and if they continually do it.

Humans have an extraordinary organ that they hardly think about, even though it's the organ that is doing the thinking. Most people take their brains for granted, even though a simple accident could take part of it away. The simple thing that makes the human brain so amazing and able is the billions of connections made by the neurons in the brain, and these are what allow the physical components to control every aspect of the body, from motions to speech. These connections are also what is changed by external stimulants and new experiences. By understanding that it is the brain that makes humans so amazing, so much more could be accomplished, since people would no longer be wondering what makes them so amazing. When you think about it, the brain is essentially the only thing that makes humans different from monkeys, and it is easy to see how different the world would be if humans didn't have extraordinary brains. Works Cited "The Big Similarities & Quirky Differences Between Our Left and Right Brains | Human Evolution | DISCOVER Magazine." //Science and Technology News, Science Articles | Discover Magazine//. Web. 11 May 2010. . "Brain Parts Function." //Brain Health Information, Free Fun Brain Teasers and Puzzles//. Web. 10 May 2010. . "Hippocrates on the Brain «." //I Want to Draw Your Brains!// Web. 11 May 2010. . "How the Brain Works." //Traumatic Brain Injury//. Web. 9 May 2010. . "Howstuffworks "How Your Brain Works"" //HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!// Web. 8 May 2010. . "Informationliberation - The REAL Brain Drain: Modern Technology - including Violent Video Games - Is Changing the Way Our Brains Work, Says Neuroscientist." //Informationliberation - The News You're Not Supposed to Know...// Web. 7 May 2010. . "Instant Expert: The Human Brain - Life - 04 September 2006 - New Scientist." //Science News and Science Jobs from New Scientist - New Scientist//. Web. 11 May 2010. . "The Malleable Brain." //Lifestyle//. Web. 10 May 2010. . Mind, Keep In. "The Effect of Video Games on the Brain." //Serendip's Exchange//. Web. 10 May 2010. . Pink, Daniel H. //A Whole New Mind: Why Right-brainers Will Rule the Future//. New York: Riverhead, 2006. Print. "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - Health." //Bing//. Web. 9 May 2010. . "Reviews: Rewiring the Brain | Learning | DISCOVER Magazine." //Science and Technology News, Science Articles | Discover Magazine//. Web. 7 May 2010. . "ROGER WOLCOTT SPERRY." //ITS Home//. Web. 12 May 2010. . Web. 7 May 2010. . "A Whole New Mind." //Litemind//. Web. 9 May 2010. .