Your Amazing Brain

According to the Society for Neuroscience, the human brain is the most complex living structure known in the universe. While science uncovers new knowledge about the brain all the time, the extent of its capabilities is unknown. Congress designated 1990-2000 the Decade of the Brain and indeed it was a time during which many discoveries were made in the brain health field.

Some areas of discovery include genetics, drugs, imaging, development and something called brain plasticity. New learning has led to greater understanding of the brain’s ability to regenerate new nerve cells and how declines might be reversed. This new research has led to the new and exciting field of brain fitness. During 2009 at Brookdale® Senior Living we will explore the brain and learn what science says we can do to keep our brains working at their best.

Amazing Brain Facts

• Your brain weighs approximately three pounds, about the same as a bag of sugar.

• If you make two fists and put them together with the folded fingers touching, you will approximate the size of your brain.

• You have 100 billion brain cells, each of which has up to 10,000 connections. A stack of 100 billion pieces of paper would be about 5000 miles high, the distance from San Francisco to London. This number is 166 times the number of people on the planet. It would take you 171 years to count your brain cells.

• At birth the human brain weighs one pound. During the first month of life the number of connections grows from 50 trillion to one quadrillion. If an infant’s body grew at a comparable rate, his weight would increase from 8.5 pounds at birth to 170 pounds at one month old.

• Your brain is three to four percent of your body weight but consumes 25 percent of the nutrients and
  oxygen that you take in.

• Information can be transmitted in and to your brain at the speed of up to 268 miles per hour.

• The brain itself is incapable of feeling pain which is why neurosurgeons can do surgery with their patients awake.

• Your brain is capable of having more ideas than the number of known atoms in the universe.

• If you could harness the power used by your brain, you could power a 10 watt light bulb.

• All of your “thinking” is done through electricity and chemicals.

Basic Brain Anatomy
There are three main parts to the brain, they are:

• The Brain Stem. This is at the base of the brain, coming up from the spinal cord.
  This structure is also referred to as the “reptilian brain.” This area is largely responsible for basic life support including breathing, heart rate, temperature control and digestion. It also takes in important information from your senses.

• The Cerebellum. This structure is attached to the back of the brain stem and also is known as “the little brain.” The cerebellum controls body position, poise and balance. It also is responsible for basic learned responses and sends information to the brain via the brain stem.

• The Cerebrum (also known as the cerebral cortex). This is the largest part of your brain and is responsible for cognitive skills such as logic, language, creativity, intuition and decision. The cerebrum is divided in to two halves known as hemispheres, the right hemisphere and left hemisphere. The right side of the brain controls movement on the left side of the body and vice versa. The right hemisphere is responsible for creative thought including rhythm, color, imagination and holistic thinking. The left hemisphere controls logic, words, number, analysis and sequence.

The Limbic Brain
Located deep within the brain, the limbic brain is made up of several structures such as the cortex, thalamus, pituitary gland, basal ganglia, hypothalamus and amygdale. Also known as the mammalian brain, the limbic brain is responsible for many functions including regulating body processes like blood pressure, short and long-term memory functions, sleeping, waking, hunger and the “flight or fight” response. 

The Nerve Cell—The Amazing Neuron
If you were to zoom in on a section of your brain, you would see a dense cluster of cells. The main structures of these cells are the dendrites—tree like structures that bring information to the cell body, and the axon—a thin cylinder that carries information away from the cell body on to dendrites in the next cell and so on. Neurons can vary in size from a fraction of an inch to three feet in length. Between the cells there is a small space known as the synapse. Chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters send the messages along through the synapses.

The neuron is the building block of the brain and its existence and good health are critical to preserving good brain function. In many brain conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease it is the ultimately death of neurons that leads to a decline in functioning.
 
Protecting and nurturing our neurons is a key component of brain health activities. In studies, some autopsies have shown the pathology for Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of people who did not manifest the symptoms. Scientists think this phenomenon occurs in the brains of people who have lead mentally stimulating lives and therefore created a “savings account” (also known as cognitive reserve) that allowed them to maintain good brain function.

In addition to mentally stimulating activity, we must give our brain what it needs in other areas. These include nutrition, stress management, exercise, meaningful activity, social contact and even spiritual support. In this way we “cross train” our brains—resulting in an overall “Optimum Life®” approach to brain health.

In 2009 at Brookdale Senior Living we will focus on brain health and learn about the many things we can do to keep our brains healthy and active. We call the program Cross Train Your Brain. We hope you will join us on this journey.

® Reg. U.S. Patent and TM Office.