Brain Health

N0000Z

The Nervous System

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

How Our Body Responds to the Environment

• Our body has special sensors that feel changes around us.
• These sensors send messages to our brain through nerves called "afferent nerves."
• The brain thinks about these messages.
• The brain then sends new messages back to the body.
• Different nerves, called "efferent nerves," carry these messages from the brain to muscles and glands.
• The body then does something, like moving a muscle or making more spit.
• This action can happen in two ways:

Automatically (without thinking), like your heartbeat

By choice (when you decide), like moving your arm

For automatic actions, the body can:

Relax and digest food ("rest and digest")

Get ready for danger ("fight or flight")

Parasympathetic Nervous System

The parasympathetic nervous system is like a special helper in our body. It helps us feel calm and relaxed.

When this helper is working:

• Our eyes get a little smaller
• Our tummy gets ready to digest food
• Our heart beats slower
• We breathe more slowly
• Our body feels peaceful

This helper is sometimes called the "rest and digest" system. It helps our body feel normal again after we've been scared or excited.

The parasympathetic nervous system uses special messengers to tell our body to slow down and relax.

Sympathetic Nervous System

When you feel scared, your body gets ready to help you. This is called the fight-or-flight response.

Here's what happens:

1. Your body thinks there might be danger.
2. It sends special messages to different parts of your body.
3. These messages tell your body to get ready to run or fight.

Your body does some cool things:

• Your eyes get bigger to see better.
• Your heart beats faster.
• You might start to sweat a little.
• You breathe faster.

Your body stops doing some things too, like digesting food. Instead, it sends more energy to important parts like your brain, lungs, heart, and kidneys.

All of this happens to keep you safe and help you deal with scary things!

Structures of the Brain

The brain is very important in our body. It's like a special computer that helps us think and do things.

Parts of the Brain

The brain has three main parts:

1. The front part (cerebrum): This is the biggest part. It helps us think, remember, and feel things.
2. The middle part (brainstem): This part connects the brain to the rest of our body.
3. The back part (cerebellum): This part helps us move and keep our balance.

All these parts work together to help us do everything we do!

Brain Protection

Our brain is very soft, so it needs protection. It has special covers to keep it safe:

1. The skull: This is the hard bone around our head that protects our brain.
2. Special layers: Inside the skull, there are three soft layers that wrap around the brain like a blanket. They help keep the brain safe and give it food.

Remember, our brain is amazing and does so many things for us. That's why it's important to take care of it!

Cerebrum (Forebrain)

The biggest part of our brain is called the cerebrum. It's at the front of our head and takes up most of the space inside our skull. The cerebrum helps us do many important things:

• Remember things
• Move our body
• Feel hot or cold
• Feel when we touch something
• See things
• Hear sounds
• Make choices
• Think about problems
• Feel happy, sad, or other feelings
• Learn new things

The cerebrum has two sides: a right side and a left side. These sides are connected at the bottom, but there's a big gap between them.

The right side of the cerebrum usually controls the left side of our body. It also helps us be creative and make art.

The left side of the cerebrum usually controls the right side of our body. It helps us think logically and solve problems.

Both sides of the cerebrum work together to help us do all the amazing things our brains can do!

Brainstem (Midbrain)

The brainstem is like the boss of our body. It's a small but very important part that sits at the bottom of our brain. It helps our body do many important things without us even thinking about it.

Here are some cool things the brainstem does:

• It helps us breathe
• It keeps our heart beating
• It lets us swallow our food
• It moves our eyes and mouth
• It tells our brain when we feel pain or heat
• It lets us know when we're hungry

The brainstem is like a busy messenger. It sends messages from our brain to our body and from our body back to our brain. This helps all the parts of our body work together.

Just like how a computer needs its hard drive to work, our body needs the brainstem to do all these important jobs. It's always working hard to keep us healthy and alive!

Cerebellum (Hindbrain)

Answer

The cerebellum is a special part of your brain. It's at the back of your head, under the bigger part of your brain. Even though it's small, it has lots of tiny helpers called neurons.

The cerebellum does important jobs:

1. It helps you move your body when you want to
2. It makes your hands do small, careful movements
3. It keeps you from falling over

When you do things like play music or catch a ball, your cerebellum is working hard. It's like a helper that makes sure your body moves just right.

The cerebellum gets messages from other parts of your body. These messages tell it what's happening, so it can help you move better. It's made of two types of brain stuff - one that looks white and one that looks gray and is all folded up.

Brain Hemispheres

The brain has two big parts called hemispheres. They're like two halves of a ball. These two parts talk to each other through special strings inside. Even though they look the same, they do different jobs.

The left side helps us talk and make words. The right side helps us think about tricky things.

The brain has special areas that do different things:

1. The front part helps us think, plan, and move. It also makes us who we are.
2. The top part helps us feel things. When we eat yummy food or touch something, this part works. It also helps us read and do math.
3. The back part helps us see. When you look at pictures or words, this part is busy.
4. The side parts help us smell, taste, and hear. They also help us remember things. When you listen to music, these parts work hard.

All these parts work together to help our brain do amazing things!

Cerebral Cortex

The brain has a special covering called the cerebral cortex. It's like the skin of an apple, but for your brain. This covering is very thin, about as thick as two or three coins stacked together.

The cerebral cortex is a very important part of the brain. It's where most of the thinking happens. People sometimes call it "gray matter" because it looks gray.

The cerebral cortex has many folds. These folds help make more space for thinking. The more folds a brain has, the more it can think and learn.

This special brain covering helps us do many things like:

• Understand what we see and hear
• Move our body
• Remember things
• Speak and understand words

It's amazing how this thin layer helps our brain do so much!

Limbic System

The Feeling Brain

Our brain has a special area called the limbic system. It's like the feeling center of our brain. This part helps us:

• Feel happy, scared, or angry
• Remember important things
• Know when we're hungry or sleepy

The limbic system has four main parts:

1. Amygdala: This tiny part helps us feel emotions like fear or happiness. It's like our brain's alarm system!
2. Hippocampus: This part looks like a seahorse and helps us remember things. It's like a big folder where we keep our memories.
3. Hypothalamus: This small part is like the brain's boss. It tells our body when to sleep, eat, or wake up.
4. Thalamus: This part is like a mailroom. It sends messages to different parts of our brain.

All these parts work together to help us feel, remember, and do many important things every day!

Neurons

What are neurons?

Neurons are tiny helpers in our body. They help us feel, move, think, and remember things. Our brain and nerves are made of these little helpers.

Parts of a neuron

A neuron has three main parts:

1. The body: This is like the neuron's house. It has important stuff inside to keep the neuron healthy.
2. The branches: These are like arms that reach out to catch messages from other neurons.
3. The long tail: This sends messages to other neurons or parts of our body.

How neurons work

Neurons talk to each other using tiny zaps of electricity and special chemicals. When a neuron gets a message, it sends a quick zap along its tail to the next neuron.

Fun facts about neurons

• Some neurons have a special coat called myelin. It helps messages travel faster!
• Neurons can be very short or very long. Some go all the way from your brain to your toes!

Synapses and Neurotransmitters

Our Brains Special Helpers

Our brain is like a big forest with lots of tiny trees. These trees are called neurons. They help our brain send messages.

Brain Messages

The neurons in our brain talk to each other. They do this by sending special chemicals called neurotransmitters. These chemicals are like tiny messengers that carry information from one neuron to another.

Two Types of Messengers

There are two main types of these messengers:

1. Wake-up messengers: These make our brain more active.
2. Calm-down messengers: These help our brain relax.

Both types of messengers are important. They work together to keep our brain happy and balanced.

How Messages Travel

When a neuron wants to send a message, it releases these special chemicals. The chemicals travel across a tiny gap called a synapse. Then, they reach another neuron. This is how our brain shares information!

Remember, our brain has billions of these tiny neurons all working together. They help us think, feel, and do everything we do!

The Brain and Normal Healthy Aging

The Brain and Getting Older

Our brain changes as we get older:

• Some parts of the brain might get smaller.
• The brain has less of the special stuff that helps it work.
• There are fewer brain cells, and some parts of the brain might not work as well.
• The tiny tubes that carry blood in the brain get smaller and harder.

Even though older people might forget things sometimes, they can still learn new words and get smarter in other ways. Scientists have found that older brains can still change and get better!

Just like we need to use our muscles to keep them strong, we need to use our brain too. If we don't use it, we might lose it! To keep our brain healthy, we can:

• Learn new things
• Stay active and healthy
• Live in a good place
• Some of it also depends on our family

Neurological Disorders

Our brain is like a super-fast computer when it's healthy. But sometimes, it can have problems. These problems can make people very sick.

Many people in the United States have brain problems. Doctors and scientists are working hard to help them.

Brain Problems

There are different kinds of brain problems:

• Some people are born with them
• Some happen when people get older
• Some happen because of accidents
• Some are caused by germs

Helping People with Brain Problems

A special group called NINDS helps doctors learn more about brain problems. They do this by:

• Looking at pictures of brains
• Studying tiny parts of our body called genes

Doctors use these things to find out what's wrong and how to make people feel better.

Brain Imaging

Answer

Our brains are amazing! Doctors have special tools to look inside our heads and see our brains. Let's learn about some of these tools:

Brain Pictures

MRI Machine This is like a big camera that uses magnets to take pictures of our brain. It's safe and doesn't hurt at all. These pictures help doctors understand how our brains grow and work.

MEG Machine This is another special tool that can see how fast our brain works. It's super quick and can spot tiny changes in our brain.

How These Tools Help

• Doctors use MRI to learn about kids with autism. They found out that their brains grow really fast when they're little. This helps parents and doctors take care of these kids better.
• The MEG machine helps doctors find out which medicine might work best for people who feel very sad. Some new medicines can help people feel better really fast, and the MEG helps doctors know who these medicines might work for.

Gene Studies

Our bodies have tiny things called genes. These genes can affect how our brains work. Scientists are learning more about genes and brains.

Some genes can make our brains healthy. Other genes might make our brains sick. Doctors are trying to understand how genes change our brains.

In the future, doctors might be able to tell if someone will have brain problems by looking at their genes. They might also find better ways to help people with brain sickness.

Learning about genes and brains helps us understand how our minds work. This can help doctors take better care of people with brain problems.

Current Theories on the Brain

The brain is a special part of our body that helps us think and do many things. It keeps changing as we grow up and learn new things.

How Our Brain Changes

Neuroplasticity Our brain can change and learn new things, even when we're grown-ups. This is called neuroplasticity. It's like our brain is a big puzzle that can move pieces around to make new pictures.

Neurogenesis Our brain can make new tiny parts called neurons. This happens in two special places in our brain. These new parts help us learn and remember things.

Epigenetics Our brain has a special code that tells it what to do. This code can change based on what we eat, think, and do. It's like having a magic remote control for our brain!

Why This is Important

These changes in our brain help us:

• Learn new things
• Remember better
• Stay healthy as we grow older

Scientists are still learning more about how our brain works. They hope this will help people stay healthy and smart for a long time.

Effect of Genes and the Environment on Brain Health

Our Amazing Cells

Our body is made of tiny parts called cells. These cells have special jobs:

• Skin cells protect us
• Muscle cells help us move
• Brain cells (neurons) send messages

DNA: Our Bodys Recipe Book

Inside each cell is something called DNA. It's like a recipe book that tells our body how to grow. This recipe comes from our parents and makes us who we are.

Genes: Special Instructions

Genes are small parts of DNA. They tell our body how to make important things it needs. As we grow, our body makes new cells. Sometimes, the recipe might change a little. This can be okay, good, or sometimes cause problems.

Our Environment Matters Too

It's not just our genes that affect how we grow. The world around us is important too. This includes:

• How we sleep
• What we eat
• The air we breathe
• How we feel

These things can change how our body uses the recipe book.

Example: Why Lead is Bad

Lead is something that can hurt us, especially kids. We can't see or smell it, but it can be in old paint or dirt. If kids touch or eat things with lead, it can make them:

• Have headaches
• Feel tired or grumpy
• Have trouble paying attention
• Not want to eat much

That's why it's important to keep our environment clean and safe.

How to Stimulate your Brain

Your brain is like a muscle. When you use it in different ways, it gets stronger. This helps your brain work better and stay healthy for a long time.

Here are some fun things you can do to make your brain stronger:

1. Close your eyes and think of a happy place. Maybe it's the beach or your favorite park. Try to see it in your mind.
2. Listen carefully to all the sounds around you. How many can you hear?
3. Tap your fingers one by one, then do it backwards. Try tapping each finger twice!
4. Count backwards from 100, but skip 7 numbers each time. Like this: 100, 93, 86...
5. Remember something fun that happened to you. What did you see? How did you feel?
6. Gently pinch your arm. Just enough to feel it, not to hurt.

When you do these things, different parts of your brain work together. It's like exercise for your brain!

Even when you just tap your fingers, your brain is doing a lot of work. It's telling your fingers what to do and making sure they move the right way.

If doctors could look inside your brain while you do these tasks, they would see different parts "light up" as they work.

The brain is a very special part of your body. It's like the boss of your whole body! Even though it's not very big, it does lots of important jobs:

• It helps you think and learn new things
• It lets you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel
• It tells your body how to move
• It controls how you act
• It makes you who you are

Your brain is amazing because it does all these things that make you human. It's like a super-smart computer inside your head!

N0001Z - WIP