The brain is a collection of cells which magically combine during the foetal stage. The brain is the control centre of our body and consciousness. In many ways it is an organic computer, but more complex than any invented thus far.
The brain weighs about three to three and a half pounds. It is made up of two hemispheres - right and left. Sections of the brain, called lobes, are responsible for different functions. The frontal and prefrontal lobes are associated with higher mental functions; the midbrain and hind-brain governs motor functions (movement) and instinctive survival reactions such as fight or flight, rage, feeding, sexual attraction and mating.
Although the human brain makes up just two percent of our body weight, it consumes twenty percent of the oxygen and glucose carried by the blood.
Nerve cells commence dying from around the age of eighteen years, but existing cells can put out new fibres and send them long distances.
The number of neurons (brain cells), dendrites and axons that evolve and the length and complexity of their development, will determine the size of the brain and the intelligence level of each human being. This means that whatever factors that can be applied to assist the growth and development of nerve cells, will directly influence the intellectual status of each and every child.
A great proportion of synaptic production is not preset by nature, but is formed entirely as a result of experience. This is extremely relevant during the foetal stage and the first two years of a child's development. However, the process goes on throughout life.
Increasing the size and efficiency of nerve cells is a bit like increasing the size and efficiency of our muscles by exercise. We don't grow additional muscles as we grow older, but we can make them grow larger and stronger through progressive resistance exercise. Studies with animals confirm that the brain will continue to grow for as long as environment continues to challenge and stimulate it.
In the main, neural circuits in the brain are regulated by serotonin. High levels of serotonin help ensure that an individual's actions are sensible. Manufacture of serotonin is influenced by the quality of our diet. Men usually have lower levels of serotonin than women. This is almost certainly because, since prehistoric times, men were required to defend their mates from human or animal threat, so needed to be aggressive.
In contrast, women stayed in the relative safety of the cave caring for children. This required nurturing and caring skills, the opposite to the brain chemistry role of men.
The prehistoric brain factor probably explains why 96% of road rage incidents in the USA are committed by male drivers, and why the brains of violent criminals are generally lower in frontal and prefrontal cortex development. In essence, violent individuals are more primitive examples of the human race, closer in ancestry to Neanderthal man. Less frontal and prefrontal development equals reduced intellectual status plus limited control mechanisms. This is further confirmed by the fact that violent felons generally have IQs lower than average. Often considerably so.
Size does matter. We know this because Einstein's brain was preserved, and a study carried out by Canadian scientists confirmed that a portion of the brain that governs mathematical ability and spatial reasoning - two key ingredients relating to the sort of thinking Einstein did best - was larger by some 15% than average. To accommodate his bigger brain, nature made the Sylvian fissure smaller, allowing brain cells to pack together, permitting more neurons to establish connections.
Theoretically, this can permit more cross referencing of information and ideas, leading to great leaps of insight. The study was reported in the prestigious British medical journal, ‘The Lancet'.