In chapter 3, we have learned all about neurons, nerves, parts of the brain, and how they all control different parts of our body. We started with exploring the nerves and the neurons a couple of weeks ago. Neurons travel through axons, or nerve highways, that go all around the body. Different messages travel on these highways and are eventually delivered to either the spinal cord or the brain. When I was sitting at my kitchen table doing my psych assignments, I stopped and took a minute to think. I started thinking about how the neurons in my body are traveling up and down my axons right at that very moment. The were helping me sense the pen I was holding and the pain I was feeling in my fingers from typing so much.
After we learned about neurons, we started to explore the brain and its functions. The brainstem, the most important part of the brain in my opinion, keeps us alive. It regulates our heartbeat and breathing. As I was sitting there reading that fact, I was thinking "wow, my brainstem is currently working hard to keep me alive." Again, all of these things are happening inside me as I am learning about them!
The cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls movement. When I am holding my pen, taking notes in class, learning about the cerebellum, I think, the my cerebellum is letting me take these notes so I can pass AP Psychology.
We also started to learn about different areas in the left hemisphere of the brain that control language, reading, speaking, and comprehension. Broca's Area allows us to speak. If my Broca's Area was currently damaged I couldn't ask questions in class to understand the material. The next area is Wernicke's Area which allows us to comprehend language. If I sat down to study with someone else for our test and my Wernicke's Area was damaged, I couldn't answer questions that person was asking me because I wouldn't be able to comprehend what they are asking. The last area is the Angular Gyrus which allows us to read/read out loud. I could not do my psych assignments without my Angular Gyrus because those do require a lot of reading.
All in all, the brain is the all controlling organ in our body and as we do everything we do in our everyday life, we should take a minute to think about how our brain is helping us do what we are doing in the very moment we are doing it.
Such a weird thing to think about, right? Like isn't it weird that there's a Wernicke inside of me thats helping me understand what people are telling me. It's even hard to think about what it would be like to have some sort of aphasia--like damage to Broca's area, when you can write something you're thinking but you can't say it. Its interesting to learn about what is helping us do what we do and what is making us who we are.
ReplyDeleteSophie,
ReplyDeleteIt is super fascinating to know that all of these functions are contributing to our survival at this very second. When we were discussing neural communication, I was thinking, "Wow. This is all occurring in seconds!" It's quite funny, as we never really stop to think about the functions of different areas of our bodies, but once we do, we are astounded!
I also had those feeling as we sat in class discussing these things. You don't really notice how fast your brain works and how much it actually does. It's crazy that as we do those things in class and we learn about the parts of the brain they are working. Your brain is working really fast and hard as you are being taught everything about it.
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