How the brain works. Dreams. How does the human brain work? How the human brain works

The brain is most complex organized organ person. After all, he is responsible for the work of all organs, as well as many complex processes, such as memory, thinking, feelings, speech. In addition, the human brain is also responsible for consciousness. Let's figure out how the brain works.

The brain is central authority nervous system. It is located in the skull, which protects it from damage and exposure to temperature. In an adult, the brain weighs on average 1.4 kg, and in appearance it looks like a large Walnut. The brain consists of gray and white matter, which consists of nerve cells and nerve fibers. Neurons send and receive electrical signals to all organs of the body through a network of nerve endings. The brain and spinal cord, as well as nerve endings throughout the body make up the human nervous system.

Anatomically, the brain consists of three main parts - the brain stem, hemispheres, and cerebellum. In addition, there are glands in the brain internal secretion, such as the thalamus and hypothalamus. Let's look at the functions and structure of each part to better understand how the human brain works.

Hemispheres of the brain

The hemispheres of the brain are its largest part. They make up approximately 90% of the total volume. The hemispheres divide the brain into two approximately equal parts, connected by a dense bridge - the corpus callosum. The structure of the hemispheres consists of gray and white matter. Gray matter makes up the surface of the brain and is made up of complex nerve cells that generate electrical impulses. A white matter, which is located inside the hemispheres, consists of nerve fibers. They transmit signals throughout the body.

The complex structure of the cerebral hemispheres allows them to be responsible for many functions of the human body, most of which relate to higher mental activity, for example, memory, thinking, etc. Physiologically, this represents a clear division into zones that are not noticeable from the outside. Each zone is responsible for certain functions person. You can learn more about what the hemispheres are responsible for in one of our articles - "".

Cerebellum

The cerebellum is located at the back of the brain, just below the back of the head. The cerebellum receives motor signals from the hemispheres, after which it sorts them, concretizes them and sends signals to specific muscles or tendons. The cerebellum is responsible for movements of both individual muscles and the overall smoothness and coordination of human movements.

Brain stem

The brain stem is at the base and connects the brain to the spinal cord. The brain stem is responsible for vital automatic processes such as heartbeat, digestion, body temperature, breathing, etc.

Hypothalamus and thalamus

The hypothalamus is an endocrine gland that is responsible for many complex functions and human manifestations. For example, it controls hunger, sleep, thirst, as well as strong emotions - anger, joy, fear. The hypothalamus is located at the top of the brain stem.

The thalamus, in turn, is the coordinator of all human glands. No larger than a pea, the thalamus regulates the release of all hormones in the body.

How the brain works: an internal process

At first glance, the work of the brain seems extremely simple. Nerve impulses, enter one hemisphere, where they are read and processed. Then, they are sent to the desired part of the body. By the way, the signals coming from right side bodies are sent to left hemisphere.

In general, we can say that the brain is the organ that controls all processes of the body. With the help of a neural network, he directs the body, like a conductor, indicating what and which organ needs to do.

The human neural network consists of nerve cells – neurons. In their structure, they have several inputs - dendrites, and one output - an axon. We can say that a neuron receives many signals, sums them up and produces one common output signal, which is transmitted further. Human neurons have the ability to “learn” - over the course of life, they can change their threshold amount of signals. When neurons increase the sum of signals, a person learns, and when the sum of signals decreases, a person forgets or loses a skill.

Now you know how the brain works. The brain is believed to be many times more powerful than any computer ever created. In the human brain there are about 100 billion nerve cells that constantly die and appear, and also tend to develop.

In order for the brain to constantly develop, it needs to work. Practical advice for this you can find in one of our articles - "

Works on emotional intelligence have all the more weight because they can be used in business, marketing and politics. A person makes many decisions subconsciously. And this is not always bad. Patterns are formed in the back of the brain: patterns of human behavior in previously experienced situations.

IQ: rational thinking

The basis of rational thinking is adherence to sign systems. Parts of the left hemisphere are activated when reading and solving mathematical problems. Any kind of writing is not characteristic of animals; their left hemispheres are involved to a lesser extent than in the human brain. The exception is higher mammals (dolphins, whales).

Connection between hemispheres

It is believed that people with manifestations of genius have a huge amount stable connections neurons and synapses (another type of connecting “wires”) between the left and right hemispheres. This allows them to analyze certain sign information, creatively interpret it and present it in a processed form in another sign system. Habits contribute to the development of stable neural connections. That's why many geniuses did what they loved already in early age- the formed habits contributed to the strengthening of neural connections that allowed them to create works of global scale.

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• how the human brain works

The brain consists of billions of nerve cells, which have their own structural features and are arranged according to the functions they perform. The organ controls the activities of the entire organism, behavior, thoughts, feelings. A complex high-level nervous system connects the human body and ensures the functionality of each organ.

Instructions

The cerebrum is the largest part of the organ and forms its structure. The outer layer of the department is called the cerebral cortex (brain cortex) or gray matter. Internal convolutions and bends increase the usable area of ​​the tissue to allow more information to be processed.

The part is divided into two hemispheres, which are connected to each other by thick nerve fibers called the corpus callosum and located at the base of the sections. The hemispheres, in turn, are divided into 4 lobes, which ensure the functioning of the brain. The frontal lobe is responsible for thought processes, as well as short term memory and movement. The parietal lobes process information received from the human senses. The occipital region constructs images obtained through the eyes, and then associates this information with memory. Temporal part provides data storage, smell interpretation, taste sensations and sound.

The cerebellum is made of wrinkled tissue and is located just below the main part of the brain. The organ is responsible for coordinating body movements and processing information received from the muscles, eyes and ears. The brainstem connects the brain to the spine and controls part of the vital important functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. This section is also involved in the sleep process.

Structures located inside the brain control emotions and memories and make up the limbic system. The thalamus sends signals received from the brain to the cerebral hemispheres. The hypothalamus processes emotions, regulates body temperature, and is responsible for other important needs such as eating or sleeping. The hippocampus is responsible for organizing memories into appropriate sections big brain, and also retrieves them if necessary.

There is a borderline opinion that the human brain itself does not generate anything, but only relays something located outside of it. But when it comes to the human brain, even such a fantastic idea may turn out to be true. For example, science, in the person of cholinguist Tatyana Chernigovskaya, puts forward an equally amazing thesis: the main thing in the work of the human brain is the brain, not the person.

Yes, the body is a direct participant in the process. With its help, the brain gains knowledge about tastes, colors, and smells. This is how people still differ from computers. But the brain is more important because:

• it is more powerful and diverse than the part of the thought process that is conscious to a person,
• he makes decisions independently without the participation of consciousness, and we do not always understand how he does this,
• With a slight delay, he informs the person’s consciousness about the decision made, but deceitfully tries to calm the “master” by creating conditions under which the person will think that he made the decision after serious deliberation.

Brain: 10 Amazing Facts

Principles of the brain

The peculiarity of the functioning of the human brain is such that the norm within the framework of this topic should be discussed with great caution. The line between genius and pathology is so thin that it is almost invisible. Mental and nervous disorders are recorded so often that they have begun to outstrip cardiovascular diseases and oncology in number. However, there are standard indicators for the functioning of brain waves, various deviations in the registration of which make it possible to establish developmental pathologies.

Brain waves

“Brain waves” are low-intensity electromagnetic wave oscillations emitted by the brain with a frequency range from 1 to 40 hertz. Normally they have the following indicators:

• The alpha level of brain function with a frequency of 8-13 Hz in 95% of healthy people is recorded in a state of relaxed wakefulness, mainly in the areas of the back of the head and the crown.
• Beta rhythm. The frequency of the brain is 14-40 Hz. Normally, it has mild fluctuations with an amplitude of up to 3-7 μV in the areas of the anterior and central gyri. Occurs when awake while observing or concentrating on solving problems.
• The gamma wave occurs when solving problems that require maximum concentration. Oscillations from 30-100 Hz in the parietal, temporal, frontal and precentral regions.
• The delta rhythm with fluctuations of 1-4 Hz is associated with slow recovery processes and low activity.
• Theta rhythm. Its frequency is 4-8 Hz with registration in the hippocampus and frontal zones. Occurs during the transition from relaxed wakefulness to drowsiness.

The principle of reflex work

The basic principle of the nervous system is reflex.

A reflex is the body’s reaction to irritation of receptors (sensitive formations), the implementation of which occurs with the participation of the nervous system.

In the 17th century, Rene Descartes discovered the reflex principle of nervous activity in general. And the assumption about the reflex activity of the higher parts of the brain, that is, the principle of reflex work of the brain, was discovered by I. Sechenov already in the 19th century. I. Pavlov developed ways of experimental objective research of the functions of the cortex and a technique for developing conditioned reflexes to unconditioned ones. Developing these ideas, P. Anokhin created the concept of a functional system, within the framework of which it is argued that at each moment of time a complex system is formed - a temporary association of sensory receptors, nervous elements of brain structures with executive organs.

A man is not a computer

In general, the principles of brain operation differ from the principles of computer operation and comparison can only be made with numerous reservations. For example, a person, unlike a computer, does not have a single energy-intensive passive memory localization. However, the neurons responsible for the state of memory are still concentrated more or less grouped in the neocortox, which contains about 11 billion. neurons and even more glia. (This type of brain cell becomes the habitat of neurons, and their metabolism is related to the metabolism of neurons.)

Right and left hemispheres: responsibility and synergy

In almost every online test to determine the proportion of activity of the left and right hemispheres, a “computer” female silhouette in motion appears before the viewer’s eyes, which can rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise. This is an illusory impression that the scientists and computer scientists who created it specifically sought. But, depending on how the rotating silhouette moves for the observer, we can say which of the person’s hemispheres is dominant at the current moment: along the arrow - the left hemisphere, counterclockwise - the right.

In tests that test the functioning of the brain hemispheres, there are often other “tests”, but they all have the goal of establishing:

• A model of consciousness where the left hemisphere is responsible for the logical, sequential, symbolic, and the right hemisphere is responsible for the intuitive, chaotic, concrete.
• Type of goal setting.
• Type of activity (Here, the left half of the brain is “engaged” in time orientation, motor activity and sense of body, and the right half is “occupied” with spatial orientation and control over the movement of objects).
• The nature of intelligence is verbal theoretical with control of the left half and non-verbal practical with control of the right.
• Memory model - for numbers and formulas for the left hemisphere and for visual images of an emotional nature - for the right.
• Type of information processing - slow conceptual or fast figurative.

In the work of the cerebral hemispheres, there is always a functional division of responsibilities, but the task of training is to harmonize the work of the cerebral hemispheres, combining their capabilities.

Brain Test: Intelligence Test

Some “advanced” bosses use an IQ test when hiring, trying to determine the intellectual abilities of a future employee. This is convenient and understandable because this criterion is considered established and illustrative. However, in fact, an IQ test demonstrates only one type of human intellectual capabilities, not allowing the applicant to demonstrate even a tenth of the entire range of his abilities. Hence the conclusion: it is more advisable for the boss to conduct a highly specialized test with potential employees that relates directly to the work ahead - checking for:

• logical thinking,
• spatial memory
• attention and concentration,
• speed of decision making, etc.

However, the belief in the infallibility of the IQ test is not the only misconception that exists in popular culture. The same beliefs include the idea that intellectual abilities depend 100 percent on the number of so-called. “gray matter” (although not everyone knows what gray matter is). Or that there is a special female logic, and men are smarter than women.

Correction for male and female minds is sometimes legitimate. Girls, for example, from the first minutes after birth are more sensitive to touch, and women are better than men at capturing emotional nuances in speech and are generally more receptive to words. However, it does not follow from what has been said that male logic exists separately from female logic, and the male mind is more perfect than the female.

Here is one of many illustrations. In April 2015, the statistics of the most effective programmers were “raised” based on 4 million questionnaires. It turned out that customers are more satisfied with the work done by women, but only until they find out about the author’s gender. After this, in one case out of seven, customers become biased towards gender.

Research into how the brain works continues continuously. Based on the book by Dick Swaab “We are our brains. From the Uterus to Alzheimer's", Chris Frith's book "Brain and Soul", Theo Compernolle's book "Brain Unchained", David Rock's book "Brain. Instructions for use" and many other publications, you can follow new discoveries in this topic and compare popular theories.