Basic brain anatomy & functions
This large part of the brain controls thinking, voluntary movement, and language.
Cerebrum
This type of specialized cell makes up the wiring of the brain, and there’s about 86 billion of them in the average adult.
Neuron
Aside from sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, this fifth basic taste receptor responds to amino acids like glutamate and tastes meaty and rich.
Unami
This seahorse shaped structure in the brain’s temporal lobe is essential for turning short-term memories into long-term ones.
Hippocampus
This brain system manages learning, memory, and raw emotion (fear, aggression).
Limbic system
This part of the brain is often referred to as the “little brain” and coordinates balance, posture, and smooth body movements.
Cerebellum
This tree-like extensions on neuron receive incoming signals from other nerve cells
Dendrites
Small, rounded neural structure on the bottom of the brain that processes sense of smell by receiving chemical signals from smell receptors in your nose and sending it to other brain areas for processing.
Olfactory bulb
This stage of sleep , famous for rapid eye movement, is when most vivid dreams take place
Known as the fight or flight hormone, it is released during high-stress situations to increase heart rate and energy supply.
Adrenaline or epinephrine
Due to a process called decussation, the left side of the brain controls muscles on this side of the body.
Right side
Signals travel down a neuron’s long extension, known as the axon, using these electrical impulses
Action potential
A snail-shaped, fluid-filled organ in the inner ear that uses microscopic hair cells to translate physical sound waves into electrical frequencies the brain can understand.
Cochlea
In deep sleep, brain actively replays and stabilizes your experiences from the day, performing this important memory-saving process
Memory consolidation
Brain’s primary “feel-good” chemical messenger that helps regulate your overall mood, happiness, and anxiety levels.
Serotonin
This term refers to the brain’s ability to change, grow, and develop its neural pathways throughout life.
Neuroplasticity
Neurons don’t actually touch; chemical signals bridge this tiny microscopic gap between them
Synapse (synaptic cleft)
Specialized nerve endings found throughout the skin and tissues that sense damage or harmful stimuli, which is interpreted by the brain as pain.
Nociceptors
Internal 24-hour biological clock tells your body when it is time to wake up in the morning and what time to feel sleepy at night
Circadian rhythm
This frontal part of the brain handles impulse control, decision making, and long-term planning, and it isn’t developed until around age 25
Prefrontal cortex
This thick part of the brain connects the left and right hemispheres so they can communicate.
corpus callosum
Dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine belong to this chemical class that transmit messages across the synaptic gap
Neurotransmitters
This specific region receives raw electrical signals from the optic nerve and pieces them together into visual images and it is located at the back of the skull within the occipital lobe.
Primary somatosensory cortex
During deep sleep, the brain uses this specialized clearance network to flush out metabolic waste and toxins accumulated through the day.
Glymphatic system
Located right behind your forehead, this advanced brain region acts as a control center for making decisions, controlling impulses, and planning the future
Prefrontal cortex