The Human Body: Discovering Your Amazing Brain
Your brain is the control center of your body. It runs everything you do, from thinking and feeling to moving your muscles and sensing the world around you, using different parts that each handle their own job.
What Does Your Brain Do?
It controls everything you do, from wiggling your toes to solving tricky puzzles. It helps you:
- Think and learn
- Feel emotions like happiness and sadness
- Move your body
- See, hear, smell, taste, and touch the world around you
Parts of the Brain and What They Do
Your brain is made up of different parts, each with a special job.
Pick a part of the brain to find out what it is in charge of.
- Cerebrum — the biggest part by far. Thinking, learning, remembering, feeling happy or sad, and deciding to move: all of that happens here.
- Cerebellum — balance and coordination. It is the reason you can ride a bike or catch a ball without working out every wobble on purpose.
- Brainstem — the part that never asks your permission. Breathing, your heartbeat and digesting your lunch are all run from here, including while you sleep.
Try This: A Brain Teaser
Here is a proper one. Think before you pick.
What has to be broken before you can use it?
- An egg
- A window
- A pencil
Two more to try on somebody else — you will need to know the answers so you can tell them afterwards:
- I am always in front of you but can't be seen. What am I? — the future.
- What question can you never answer yes to? — "Are you asleep yet?"
Conclusion
Even while you sleep, your brainstem keeps your heart beating and your lungs breathing — it never waits for your permission, and it never switches off.