In animals, the brain, or encephalon (Greek for "in the head"), is the control center of the central nervous system. In most animals, the brain is located in the head close to the primary sensory apparatus and the mouth. While all vertebrates have a brain, invertebrates have either a centralized brain or collections of individual ganglia. Brains can be extremely complex. For example, the human brain contains more than 100 billion neurons, each linked to as many as 10,000 others.

History

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Early views on the function of the brain regarded it to be a form of “cranial stuffing” of sorts. In Egypt, from the late Middle Kingdom onwards, in preparation for mummification, the brain was regularly removed, for it was the heart that was assumed to be the seat of intelligence. According to Herodotus, during the first step of mummification: ‘The most perfect practice is to extract as much of the brain as possible with an iron hook, and what the hook cannot reach is mixed with drugs.’ Over the next five-thousand years, this view came to be reversed; the brain is now known to be the seat of intelligence, although colloquial variations of the former remain as in “memorizing something by heart”.

Overview

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The brain is not only important as the site of reason and intelligence, it is also the source of cognition, emotion, memory, and motor, and other forms of learning, and it controls and coordinates most sensory systems, movement, behavior, but it also controls homeostatic body functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, fluid balance, and body temperature. Some behaviors such as simple reflexes and basic locomotion, can be executed under spinal cord control alone.

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Trying to pry my eyes open and wake my brain up....somehow I managed to smack myself in the face with a cabinet door...WAKEUP!
samariaproject (samariaproject) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:03:13 -0000
Trying to pry my eyes open and wake my brain up....somehow I managed to smack myself in the face with a cabinet door...WAKEUP!
A Small Sip from the Fountain of Youth | Brain Blogger http://bit.ly/xfWVR
GraceBarkwell (GraceBarkwell) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:03:11 -0000
A Small Sip from the Fountain of Youth | Brain Blogger http://bit.ly/xfWVR
Devoting myself to Social Studies task. Frying my brain is anyone needs me:]
SammyOhMy (Samantha Marie) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:02:59 -0000
Devoting myself to Social Studies task. Frying my brain is anyone needs me:]
Getting ready for a session on Middle School Brain by Spencer Kagan #NMSA09
Twilliamson15 (Twilliamson15) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:02:37 -0000
Getting ready for a session on Middle School Brain by Spencer Kagan #NMSA09
RT: @PimmyKZ: Jus finish tutoring class,,feel like my brain gonna blows up!! HELP ME PLZ!! (O_o)"" -- oww. haha >< su su p'pim ! :))
jAnzz_ (JaN n N XD) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:02:32 -0000
RT: @PimmyKZ: Jus finish tutoring class,,feel like my brain gonna blows up!! HELP ME PLZ!! (O_o)"" -- oww. haha >< su su p'pim ! :))
^ac Navy Adm Mike Mullen says Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) research & immediate care 4 servicemembers is urgently needed http://ow.ly/zJN9
SDXHiresHeroes (angelaguidroz) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:02:31 -0000
^ac Navy Adm Mike Mullen says Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) research & immediate care 4 servicemembers is urgently needed http://ow.ly/zJN9

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