| dc.description.abstract | The human brain represents the product of an ongoing, six-billion-year construction
project. In its physical form and function, the human brain represents
millions upon millions of trial-and-error adaptive adjustments. Comprised of
an estimated 100 billion neurons and many more glial cells it is organized into
thousands of regions. The human brain, in a seamlessly integrated manner,
governs body functions and movement but more importantly, regulates cognition.
Not surprisingly, although the brains of different animals may not look
exactly alike, they all work according to the same principles and mechanisms.
These neurons and glial cells communicate using a nearly infinite number of
synaptic connections, yet the entire organ in humans weighs only about three
pounds. As authors Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang eloquently describe in their
book, Welcome to your brain (2007), billions of years of evolution have resulted in
a very complex human brain, yet one that is a jumbled, far from efficient,
crowded organ. They describe the neuronal pathways of the human brain as
the equivalent of the New York City subway system or the streets of London with
layers upon layers of routes each constructed at a different time in a different
way. Yet this stunning system, for the most part, develops and works fine for
most children. | en_US |
