What to learn the major parts of the brain?
All you need are your hands.
Stretch out your hands in front of you.
See how the skin on this side of your hands is darker than the other side?
That’s just like the outer layer of the brain, called the cortex or the “gray matter”.
The outside of the brain is darker than the inside because it’s lined with neuron cell
bodies.
Cell bodies are also called soma.
Cell bodies keep the neuron healthy and functioning.
The muscles inside your hands represent the white matter of your brain.
White matter is made up of neuron axons.
Axons carry information from one neuron to another.
If you make a fist with your hands, you can form a shape that’s similar to your brain’s.
This is how human brains are able to squeeze so much gray matter cortex into the small
space within your skull.
Now take your hands, cross your wrists, and make the back of your hands touch each other.
This will help you remember that the left hemisphere of your brain controls the right
side of your body while the right hemisphere of your brain control the left side of your
body.
Look closer at your hands.
Thearea where they touch represents the corpus callosum.
The corpus callosum is a bundle of nerves that connect the two hemispheres of the brain
and help them to communicate with each other.
I like to think of it as the Golden Gate bridge of the brain.
Your wrists represent the brainstem.
The brain stem sits at the very bottom of your brain.
It’s the most basic part of your brain and regulates important life functions like breathing,
heart rate, sleeping, eating, and more.
This is also where signals from the right side of your body cross over to your left
brain and where signals from the left side of your body cross over to your right brain.
Your arms represent the spinal cord.
The spinal cord extends down your back.
It sends and receives information from the rest of your body.
Let’s focus on your left hemisphere.
Your front fingers represent your frontal lobe.
If you remember front fingers frontal lobe, you’ll remember that this is the part of
your brain responsible for complex and abstract abilities.
It sits right behind your forehead and is the most advanced part of your brain.
The frontal lobe helps you to make plans, imagine possible futures, and helps you to
control your emotions.
It doesn’t finish developing until your mid 20s, which is why a lot of kids and teenagers
can do impulsive things.
If you extend your index and middle finger, you’ll see the part of your hand that represents
the parietal lobe.
The parietal lobe integrates all the sensory information in your body.
Your sense of space, navigation, and touch all get relayed here.
But your brain doesn’t prioritize each part of your body equally.
Take a look at this homunculus "map" of the primary motor cortex of the brain - you’ll
notice that the brain prioritizes information from your hands and face.
Look at the back of your hands.
You’ll notice they look like eyes.
This will help you remember that the occipital lobe, the area responsible for visual information,
is located in the back of your brain.
Have you ever hit the back of your head and seen stars?
It’s because you hit your occipital lobe.
Don’t worry though, your brain is protected by cerebrospinal fluid which cushions it against
most everyday injuries like this, just like an airbag in a car.
Take a look at your thumb.
See how it can lift away from the rest of your fist but remains attached?
That’s similar to the temporal lobe.
The back of the temporal lobe is connected to the parietal and occipital lobes, but the
front section can be lifted away from the rest of the brain.
The temporal lobe is responsible for understanding sounds and speech.
Here’s how I remember this: the thumb looks like a temporal lobe which is important for
talking.
If we take a closer look at the temporal lobe, we’ll find the limbic system.
The limbic system is responsible for emotions, learning, and memory.
Inside you’ll find the amygdala, an almond shaped structure just below your thumbnail.
The amygdala is responsible for basic emotions.
Further inside is the hippocampus.
It’s near the bone of your thumb.
The hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory.
That’s it!
Now you’ve got a portable model of the brain that you can use whenever you need it.
Recreate it with your own hands a few times and customize the model by making your own
mnemonics.
What questions do you have about the brain?
Let me know in the comments below.