The Human Brain - GEM2027 Informative Speech
I.
“The human brain is
the most complicated organisation of matter that we know” – Isaac Asimov
a.
The human brain weighs
approximately 1300 grams (Hartmann, 1994) , is hidden within its bony shell
and “washed by protective fluid” (National Institutes of Health, 2015) .
b.
Dr. Suzana Herculano-Houzel’s
research suggests that the human brain has over 86
billion neurons (Voytek, 2013) . These neurons transport
messages in the brain by firing up electrical impulses to the relevant receptor
organ (Society for Neuroscience, 2012) .
Let us begin by examining how the brain
alerts us to danger.
I.
The human brain alerts us to
danger by initiating body stress responses.
a.
When our eyes or ears perceive
stressful situations, information is sent to the amygdala. The amygdala is an
area in our brains that processes emotions. If danger is perceived, distress
signals are sent to the hypothalamus (Harvard Mental Health Letter, 2011) .
b.
The hypothalamus functions like
a command center in the brain and communicates with other parts of our body
through the central nervous system (Mora, Segovia, del Arco, de Blas &
Garrido, 2012). This increases breathing rates, blood pressure, heartbeat and
glucose levels (Harvard Mental Health Letter, 2011) .
c.
However, long-term stress
responses have detrimental effects on our health.
i. A research by the University of California, Los Angeles proved that
cortisol, a stress hormone released into the body, weakens the immune system
(Choi, Fauce, Effros, 2008). As a result, it is easier to fall sick (The Franklin Institute, 2004) .
II.
The human brain plays an
important role in establishing rapport during social interactions.
a.
Mirror neurons in our brain
facilitate how we interact with others.
i. According to Dr. Iacoboni (2009), a neuroscientist at the University
of California, Los Angeles, she discovered that mirror neurons are activated
both when an action is performed and when we watch others performing “that same
action”.
b.
Mirror neurons allow us to
build rapport with people subconsciously.
i. A social experiment conducted by Chartrand and Bargh in 1999 proved
that imitation of human behaviours occurs subconsciously (as cited in Dijksterhuis, 2005,
p. 210).
1.
In each room, a researcher worked
with a participant on a task. The researchers pretended to be another
participant in the same experiment.
2.
Some of the researchers engaged
in nose rubbing while the others engaged in foot shaking.
3.
Participants in rooms with researchers
deliberately rubbing their nose were found to rub their nose more often.
Now that we have
seen how our brain alerts us to danger and facilitates interaction, let us move
on to find out what our brains does while we are asleep.
III.
The human brain undergoes
incredibly complex processes during sleep.
a.
John Peever, director of the
System Neurobiology Laboratory at the University of Toronto, said: “The
function of sleep has mystified scientists for thousands of years, but modern
research is providing new clues about what it does for the mind” (Scientific America, 2015) .
b.
The brain creates and
strengthens memories during sleep (National Institutes of Health, 2013) .
i. The hippocampus is the part of the brain associated with long-term
memory (Kryukov, 2008).
ii. An experiment conducted by neurobiologist Jan Bord, and neuroscientist,
Ullrich Wagner found that our brain “replays, processes, learns and extracts
meaning” as we sleep
(Konnikova, 2015) .
1.
A relatively challenging math
task was taught to a group of participants. The simpler way to solve the
problem was not disclosed to them. In the process, a few participants solved it
on their first attempt.
2.
The participants were retested
after eight hours. Sixty per cent of the group who slept during the eight hours
discovered the alternative solution while less than twenty five per cent of the
sleepless group did.
Indeed,
the human brain is part and parcel of life. From processing perceived danger
and initiating body stress responses, to the facilitation of daily social
interactions, and most importantly, the consolidation of memories while we are
asleep
I.
In conclusion, now that we have
a better understanding of how involved our brains are in everyday life, I hope that
you are inspired to find out more about the inner workings of your mind.
II.
Like what Isaac Asimov once said:
“The human brain is the most complicated organisation of matter that we
know”.
a.
Your journey of discovery awaits!
Choi, J., Fauce, S.
R., & Effros, R. B. (2008). Reduced telomerase activity in human T
lymphocytes exposed to cortisol. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 22(4),
600-605.
Dijksterhuis, A.
(2005). Why we are social animals: The high road to imitation as social glue. Perspectives
on imitation: From neuroscience to social science, 2, 207-220.
Hartmann, P. (1994, June 15). Normal weight of the brain
in adults in relation to age, sex, body height and weight. Retrieved
September 25, 2015, from US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of
Health: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8072950
Harvard Mental Health Letter. (2011, March 1). Understanding
the stress response. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from Harvard
Medical School:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
Iacoboni, M.
(2009). Imitation, empathy, and mirror neurons. Annual review of psychology,
60, 653-670.
Konnikova, M. (2015, July 8). The Work We Do While We
Sleep. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from The New Yorker:
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/why-we-sleep
Kryukov, V. I.
(2008). The role of the hippocampus in long-term memory: is it memory store or
comparator?. Journal of integrative neuroscience, 7(01), 117-184.
Mora, F., Segovia,
G., del Arco, A., de Blas, M., & Garrido, P. (2012). Stress,
neurotransmitters, corticosterone and body–brain integration. Brain research,
1476, 71-85.
National Institutes of Health. (2015, April 17). Know your
Brain. Retrieved September 25, 2015, from National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/know_your_brain.htm
National Institutes of Health. (2013, April 1). Sleep On
It. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from National Institutes of Health:
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/apr2013/feature2
Scientific America. (2015, August 13). What Happens in the
Brain During Sleep? Retrieved September 26, 2015, from Scientific America:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-happens-in-the-brain-during-sleep/
Society for Neuroscience. (2012, April 1). The Neuron.
Retrieved September 25, 2015, from Brain Facts:
http://www.brainfacts.org/brain-basics/neuroanatomy/articles/2012/the-neuron/
The Franklin Institute. (2004, February 4). The Human
Brain. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from The Franklin Institute:
http://learn.fi.edu/learn/brain/stress.html
Voytek, B. (2013, May 20). Are There Really as Many
Neurons in the Human Brain as Stars in the Milky Way? Retrieved September
25, 2015, from Nature:
http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/brain-metrics/are_there_really_as_many
