I wonder... What is up with my brain?

For English, we have to research something we are wondering. At first, I had no idea what I was wondering until I realized what I am interested in. One of the things that not many people know I am interested in, is the brain and how it all works. I am interested in Psychology so I am really interested in how the brain works and what cognitive functions are and what they do. So when we were given the chance, I immediately looked on google and found some interesting stuff.

At first, I looked at the different dimensions of the nervous system, this is what I found out! I found out the nervous system (aka the brain), is your body's decision and communication centre. The central nervous system is made of the brain, spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system. Together, they control everything you do, from blinking to choosing what to eat! nerves reach from your brain to your face, ears, eyes, nose, and spinal cord... and from the spinal cord to the rest of your body. The sensory nerves in your body, gather information about the things around you, then send that information to the spinal cord. Then the spinal cord sends a speedy message to the brain. The brain then sends a response to that information. Motor neurons then send the instructions from the brain to the rest of your body.  The spinal cord is made up of a heap of nerves that run up and down the spine, the spinal cord sends messages to and from the brain every second.

The brain itself is made up of three main parts: the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. The forebrain is made up of the cerebrum, thalamus, and hypothalamus (part of the limbic system). The midbrain is made up of the tectum and tegmentum. The hindbrain is made of the cerebellum, pons, and medulla. Often the midbrain, pons, and medulla are referred to together as the brainstem. The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain, which controls thought and action. The cerebral cortex is divided into four sections, called "lobes": the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe.

What does each of these lobes do?

• Frontal Lobe- associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem-solving
• Parietal Lobe- associated with movement, orientation, and recognition.
• Occipital Lobe- associated with visual processing
• Temporal Lobe- associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech

The cerebellum, or "little brain", is similar to the cerebrum because it has two hemispheres and has a highly folded cortex. This part of the brain is associated with regulation and coordination of movement, posture, and balance.

The limbic system is often seen as the "emotional brain", it is found buried within the cerebrum.

Underneath the limbic system is the brain stem. This part is responsible for basic vital life things such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure.

After I learned about the brain itself, I wanted to learn about other things such as why we fear. Personally, I have the biggest fear of birds, especially ducks and seagulls.  I found an article that taught me about the fear of blood. So basically, when people have a fear of blood and see it, their blood pressure drops, which causes their heart to beat faster. Most people associate fear with their heart racing, this is because their blood pressure drops, this also explains why some people feel cold when they see something they fear.

After reading this exciting article, I found another article that taught me about how sugar affects the brain. This article taught me that Sugar is a class of molecules (molecules are a group of atoms bonded together, representing the smallest unit of a chemical compound that can take part in a chemical reaction) called carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are also called  Glucose Molecules.

There are different forms of sugar including Sucrose, Maltose, Fructose, Lactose, Dextrose, Starch, Corn syrup, Honey and Raw sugar. There is sugar in most foods that people buy such as, Tomato sauce, Honey, Energy bars, Energy drinks, Flavoured water, Yogurt, and fruit juice.

Whenever we eat food something called dopamine is released in the brain. Dopamine is a compound in the body as a neurotransmitter and a protector of other substances including adrenaline. It is one of those chemicals that is responsible for transmitting signals in between the nerve cells (neurons) of the brain. Very few neurons actually make dopamine. However after eating the same food time after time, the dopamine levels begin to even out and we no longer find the dish as satisfying as we once did, this is because the human brain is supposed to motivate us to eat different varieties of food. This makes sure that we keep eating the right amount of vitamins and minerals, while also keeping us away from the bad foods.  Interestingly enough, no matter how much sugar a person consumes, the dopamine levels will never even out enough to motivate the discourage an individual from eating more sugar.

When that sugary drink hits your sweet taste receptors (taste buds on your tongue) the sugar it contains hit the sweet taste receptors. Then it sends a message to the Cerebral cortex part of the brain telling you, GO FOR IT WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE? This is an activation of your reward system and it is not like how bodies process addictive substances such as alcohol or nicotine. So when you eat something packed with a sugar and you have a sugar rush, it spikes the dopamine levels and then it leaves you craving even more sugar.

I really enjoyed doing an I wonder activity in English, it really got me to think deeper about my passions and what excites me.