The Brain Lesson Understanding the four brain systems (12 slides) creatively compiled by dr. michael farnworth

The brain is a tapestry of wet electro-magnetic frequency fields, that is bathed in complex levels of potential neural-chemical- hormonal interactions that provide the holistic interwoven brain and body communication.

This lesson represents some very important ideas in understanding the basic functions, imprinting and development of the brain in childhood. It is important in relationship to raising children and in understanding the impact of fear, threat and stress in their, and our own lives. Take time to learn the dynamics of brain function and see what insight and understanding will surface in relation to your own life.

An introduction to the four brain systems… The first brain system is the brain stem which is responsible for our survival. (reptilian brain) The second brain system is the limbic brain and is our emotional-cognitive brain. (mammalian brain) The third brain system is our neo-cortex brain and is our language-intelligence brain. (human brain) The fourth brain system is our pre frontal lobes and is responsible for our higher thinking and affect regulation. (angel brain)

In reality, the four brain systems are not really separate but are woven together in a sophisticated tapestry. We will talk about them as if they were separate to help simplify the dynamics of brain function. The first two brains: the stem and limbic will also be referred to as the Old Brain because they developed first- not only in our prenatal life but also in our species evolutionary history. The New Brain is made up of the neo-cortex and the pre- frontal lobes.

New Brain Old Brain

To appreciate the complexity of the brain- here are some of the other parts Frontal lobe, OccipitalLobe, Superior Parietal Gyrus, Calcerine Fissure, Posterior Horn of LateralVentricle, Cerebellar Cortex, Cerebellar White Matter, Lingula, CalcarAvis, Postcentral Gyrus, Postcentral fissure, lateral ventricle, cerebellarpeduncle, dentate nucleus, inferior olive, medulla, flocculus, fourth ventricle,Temporal lobe, inferior colliculus, splenium of corpus callosum, Parietallobe, precentral gyrus, inferior parietal gyrus, Superior Temporal Gyrus,Medial Temporal Gyrus, Inferior Temporal Gyrus, Fusiform Gyrus, HippocampalGyrus, red nucleus, hapenulopeduncluar tract, pulvinar, Cingulate Gyrus, choriod plexus, pineal, aqueduct, fornix, thalamus, subthalamicnucleus, cerebral peduncle, hippocampus, pons, interpeduncular fossa, substantianigra, internal capsule, habenula, mammillothalamic tract, mammillary body,mediodorsal thalamus, Insula, Middle Frontal Gyrus, anterior thalamus,anterior hypothalamus, subiculum, corpus callosum, caudate nucleus, putamen,globus pallidus, claustrum, extreme capsule, amygdala, septum, externalcapsule, diagonal band, olfactory sulcus, inferior frontal fissure, genuof corpus callosum, Orbitofrontal Cortex.

The Human Brain

Interesting Brain Facts Early Brain Growth During the first month of life, the number of connections or synapses, dramatically increases from 50 trillion to 1 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. Abused Children Have Smaller Brains Parts of the brain of a severely abused and neglected child can be substantially smaller than that of a healthy child.

Interesting brain facts continued Reading Aloud Stimulates Child Development Reading aloud to children helps stimulate brain development, yet only 50% of infants and toddlers are routinely read to by their parents. Rhythm In Development Research shows brain growth contains its own rhythm. Certain skills come into preeminence for a period of intensive networking. At three months, the visual cortex dominates synapse formation.

More interesting brain facts Miles and Miles of Neurons There are one hundred billion neurons in the brain. A stack of one hundred billion pieces of paper would be about 5000 miles high, the distance from San Francisco to London. No Pain in Brain There is no sense of pain within the brain itself. This fact allows neurosurgeons to probe areas of the brain while the patient is awake. Feedback from the patient during these probes is useful for identifying important regions, such as those for speech, that are spared if possible.

the end