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

---

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

---

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.

More on [ Brain ]

Brain - Twitter Search

There is just way too much information out there and too many skills to learn for my primitive brain to absorb in the time allotted.
sdawg (sez) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:57:50 -0000
There is just way too much information out there and too many skills to learn for my primitive brain to absorb in the time allotted.
@brian_wong no, you're the cool guy, Brain! ;) @bcmblog
iphoneincanada (Gary) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:57:46 -0000
@brian_wong no, you're the cool guy, Brain! ;) @bcmblog
just found out Domino's delivers to my apt. Pizza and wings = brain food
TiffRCraig (Tiffany Craig) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:57:36 -0000
just found out Domino's delivers to my apt. Pizza and wings = brain food
She ate my heart and then she ate my brain.
danzodanzo (Danny Truong) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:57:31 -0000
She ate my heart and then she ate my brain.
The Brain That Changes Itself is quite an eye-opening experience. Highly-recommended read.
MikeTek (Mike Tekula) Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:57:30 -0000
The Brain That Changes Itself is quite an eye-opening experience. Highly-recommended read.
@MistaDAJPhoto yay 4 talkin to things that arent my brain and behavior notes! lol
JreneeSashay (Jocelyn Renee') Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:57:15 -0000
@MistaDAJPhoto yay 4 talkin to things that arent my brain and behavior notes! lol

Subscribe to Brain RSS feed