
Emotive stability in humans is associated with planning, experience, and an environment that is both stable and stimulating. Powerful emotional pathways can modulate spontaneous emotive expression regardless of attempts at cerebral self-control. The brain controls all movement from lifting a pencil to building a superstructure.Įxtended neocortical capacity allows humans some control over emotional behavior, but neural pathways between emotive centers of the brain stem and cerebral motor control areas are shorter than those connecting complex cognitive areas in the neocortex with incoming sensory information from the brain stem. Beyond cognitive functions, the brain regulates autonomic processes related to essential body functions such as respiration and heartbeat. Broca's area) of which a person may or may not be aware. The mind is the set of cognitive processes related to perception, interpretation, imagination, memories, and crucially language (cf. The human brain is the source of the conscious, cognitive mind. 5 Comparison of the brain and a computer.Human consciousness is founded upon the extended capacity of the modern neocortex, as well as the greatly developed structures of the brain stem. Basic systems that alert humans to stimuli, sense events in the environment, and maintain homeostasis are similar to those of basic vertebrates. The neocortex accounts for about 76% of the mass of the human brain with a neocortex much larger than other animals, humans enjoy unique mental capacities despite having a neuroarchitecture similar to that of more primitive species. This process was especially pronounced in the neocortex, a section of the brain involved with language and consciousness. Complex, or "higher," mental activity, such as thought, reason, and abstraction, is consciously controlled.Īnatomically, the brain can be divided into three parts: the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain the forebrain includes the several lobes of the cerebral cortex that control higher functions, while the mid- and hindbrain are more involved with unconscious, autonomic functions.ĭuring encephalization, human brain mass increased beyond that of other species relative to body mass. Involuntary, or "lower," actions, such as heart rate, respiration, and digestion, are unconsciously governed by the brain, specifically through the autonomic nervous system. The human brain controls the central nervous system (CNS), by way of the cranial nerves and spinal cord, the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and regulates virtually all human activity.
