brain structure and function

Written by Sue Younger, MA(Hons), MCW (Hons), DipTchg, DipProfEth, Trustee

It’s soft, and sort of spongy. It’s much more squishy than we
think, because we often see images of brains that have
been preserved. Unpreserved, the brain is fragile and soft.
Because it is so delicate, we have a bony cage, our skull, to
protect it, and it also floats in fluid. The average adult brain
weighs only about 1.4kg.1 Researchers claim it is the most
complex structure on earth.
The brain is responsible for so much. It’s involved when we
breathe and when we digest our food. It helps us to move
and to keep our balance. It creates our emotions, our
behaviour, allows us to love, and to laugh. It promotes our
survival. It is responsible for dreams, and it monitors our body
to see whether we need a drink. And much much more.
The brain is part of the central nervous system and works
with the nerves throughout the body and our five senses,
sending messages back and forth constantly. Through it we
‘read’ and respond to the world

We know a lot more We know a lot more about brains than we used to. But
there is still a lot that is a mystery. It’s worth remembering
about brains than we used that there is much we do not yet understand about the
to. But there is still a complex way in which brain regions communicate with,
lot that is a mystery. and influence, each other, the rest of the body, and us as
people.2

1. Dekaban & Sadowsky, 1978

2. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University,
2016

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 Let’s start with the tiny cells, that make up all the parts of
the brain.
What is a cell?
A cell is a tiny chamber, bound by a membrane,which is
a sort of ‘skin’ that can let some things in and keep others
out. It can only be seen under a microscope. In the centre
of each cell is the nucleus, which contains DNA unique to
each person, and which instructs the cell to do its specific
job.
There are hundreds of different types of human cells. They
join together to make up organs and limbs, nerves and
muscles, blood and much more. Every living thing is made
up of cells.
Brain cells
A human brain is made up of billions and billions of tiny
brain cells.
There are two main types:
1. Neurons are nerve cells, that send and receive
messages
2. Glia (the Greek word for glue) are various types of
‘caretaker’ cells that support, protect, and strengthen
the neurons.3
Neurons and Glial cells work together to make the brain do
what it does. We are only just beginning to understand the
way this works.
Neurons
Neurons can look different in different areas of the brain,
but they generally have each of these:
1. a CELL BODY which contains both DNA and tiny
structures which are responsible for all sorts of busy work
within the cell, such as producing its energy, making
neurotransmitters and more.
2. an AXON –- a kind of tube structure, a branch along
which messages are sent. This can be long or short.
3. many DENDRITES, tiny little twigs and branches that
RECEIVE messages from other cells.
It is estimated that there are a massive 86 billion neurons
in the brain4, but they are not evenly spread throughout,
i.e. some areas are much more dense in neurons than
others. Glial cells are there in roughly the same number, it is
thought. These number are unimaginably large.
Synapses – A Contactless Message Delivery Service
But these billions of cells are no good on their own. They
need to communicate with each other. And to do that,
they need some super high-tech equipment.
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The brain is a set of
integrated circuits that
function as a whole.
The neurons set up SYNAPSES, or ‘connections’, in the
little gaps between neurons. Most commonly, the end
of an axon and the dendrite of another neuron organise
themselves so that the cell can convert the ‘electrical’
messages that come hurtling along the axon into
‘chemical’ messages.5 They use cool chemicals called
neurotransmitters. There are about one hundred identified
neurotransmitters in the brain (glutamine, serotonin,
dopamine and noradrenaline are some you may have
heard of). A little sac on the end of the axon releases
the chemicals into the gap and then the dendrite is all
set up to receive them, re-converting the messages to
‘electrical’ signals. In most cases, the two neurons never
actually touch. It’s a kind of contactless delivery. The glial
cells often then come along and clean up, re-cycling the
neurotransmitters.
But the synapse doesn’t always send the message.
Sometimes the job is to STOP the message going further,
i.e. to BLOCK the message from that part of the brain.
To allow this ‘send or block’ function to work, when the
neurotransmitters reach the surface of the next neuron
they work like a lock and key with receptors on the next
neuron. They can either trigger an impulse travelling down
the next neuron, or inhibit it. Synapses, because of the lock
and key system, can work like people with lollipop signs on
a crossing. STOP or GO, they can say. But this over-simplifies
it – neural networks are exquisitely precise, working with
impenetrable complexity.
Strengthening Connections – Myelination
Myelin is a fatty covering that is wrapped around the axon,
allowing the messages to move faster and more efficiently.
In many areas, those connections that are used the most
often become the most protected by myelin. A type of glial
cell is responsible for myelinating the brain connections.
Myelin looks white when you cut open the brain, so areas
with lots of myelination are called ‘white matter’. Less
myelinated areas and the neuronal cell bodies are called
‘gray matter.
Neural Networks
Each one of these little messages and synapses carries
only a small part of the information, and a tiny bit of the
picture. Neurons are also interconnected to form networks
that work together for the exchange and processing of
information. The brain is a set of integrated circuits that
function as a whole. Many of the pathways along which
messages travel are used again and again and, through
myelination, they become very fast indeed.
Some of the networks involve back and forth
communication with the rest of the body. Others – those for
thinking, calculating, and dreaming, for example - happen
entirely within the brain.
3. Henstridge et al., 2019
4. Azevedo et al., 2009
5. Webb et al., 2001
Page 2
 Brain Structure
Brains are multi-layered.We can analyse them in many
ways: left and right hemispheres, outer layers and inner
layers, brain regions (such as the cortex) and specific
structures (such as the medulla, amygdala etc.). All of these
layers and structures work together, even though they can
be highly specialised in some ways.
It’s a bit like trying to understand a city. Sometimes we just
divide it up into North, South, East and West. We often map
it from above. Or we can look at it suburb by suburb. It can
be seen as a set of railway stations joined by tracks, a road
network, or a series of waterways. Every person in that city is
doing their own thing, but we can also divide all the people
into families, or into communities by where they live, which
sports teams they support and much much more. Each will
give us part of the picture.
And all of these things run into each other, and overlap
and interact. No one of them gives us a “true” picture of
that city, but it all helps us understand, describe and find
our way around the city.
In the same way, although different regions of the
brain can have separate jobs, they are all extensively
interconnected, and the brain functions as a whole.
For the purposes of understanding the crucial learning
and brain development in the first years of life, it is useful to
understand a little about the following regions of the brain.
An Outline of Four Regions.
1. The Brainstem. Survival, Consciousness, Brain and Body
Communication
Where the spinal cord meets the brain is the first area of the
brain to develop. The brainstem helps to control the survival
functions of the body (e.g. breathing, digestion, circulation)
and has an important role in maintaining consciousness.
All messages between the brain and the body must travel
through the brainstem.
2. The Cerebellum. Movement, Motor Memory,
Co-ordination
The cerebellum (the bulge at the bottom of the brain,
behind the top of the brain stem) is mostly involved in
motor coordination, posture and balance. It takes input
from other areas of the brain to regulate and fine-tune
movement. Its other prominent role is in the memory of
motor activity that has been learned - e.g. speech, riding a
bike, playing a musical instrument, touch typing.
The cerebellum represents only 10% of the total brain
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Although different regions
of the brain can have
separate jobs, they are all
extensively interconnected,
and the brain functions as
a whole.
volume, however it has more than 80% of the brain’s
neurons. This may because movement is so complex. It is
said that cats have a relatively larger cerebellum which,
in conjunction with their intricate inner ear and balance
system, is why they can always land on their feet if they fall
from a height.
3. The Limbic System. Survival, Emotions, Reactions, Threat,
Memory, Appetites
Deep within the brain lies a set of structures which we
sometimes group together as the Limbic System. They are
above the brainstem, but hidden under the outer layers of
the cerebral cortex.
The Limbic System is crucial in our behavioural and
emotional responses. It is important for our survival: for
feeding ourselves, in raising our young and, importantly, in
the fight or flight responses that help us react to threat.
Some of the structures in the limbic system:
The relay station for many of the constant messages the
brain receives from the eyes, ears, skin and internal organs
is the Thalamus. All of these messages go through this
region for processing, on their way to other parts of the
brain. It is also yet another brain region that plays a function
in motor control.
The Hypothalamus is only about the size of a pea, but is
involved in releasing many of the hormones needed for
body functions. The hypothalamus monitors and controls
daily sleep/wake cycles, appetite, thirst and similar
functions. and also plays a role in emotions. In addition, the
hypothalamus is crucial in survival functions, the things that
we do without thinking, such as heartbeat, breathing, and
blood pressure. As if that is not enough it also plays a large
part in motor functions and movement.
The tiny almond-shaped Amygdala is far more important
than its size would suggest. It plays a large role in producing
our emotions, especially fear. The amygdala attaches an
emotional significance to our memories, and helps in storing
and classifying ‘emotionally charged ‘memories, in other
words, those memories that come with strong feelings.6 It is
essential in our social behaviour. The amygdala has been
found to trigger physical responses to strong emotion, such
as sweaty palms, freezing, fast heart rate, fast breathing
and the release of stress hormones.
The primary role of the curvy sea-horse shaped
Hippocampus is in memory. Crucially, it processes and
stores new and temporary memories, prior to long term
storage. It also plays a role in storing and retrieving long-
term memories.
4. The Cortex Thinking, Calculating, Perceiving,
Language, Logic
The wrinkly pinkish outer layers of the larger part of the brain
are called the cerebral cortex. It is dense in neurons that
6. Braun, 2011
Page 3
 are not myelinated; it is largely grey matter. Humans have References
the largest cortex of any animal. The cortex is divided into Azevedo, F. A., Carvalho, L. R., Grinberg, L. T., Farfel, J.
four lobes; frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes, M., Ferretti, R. E., Leite, R. E., . . . Herculano-Houzel, S.
each with different functions. (2009). Equal numbers of neuronal and nonneuronal
cells make the human brain an isometrically scaled-
The cortex is responsible for things like logical thinking, up primate brain. Journal of Comparative Neurology,
decision making, perceiving, understanding language and 513(5), 532-541.
producing language. It is heavily involved in interpreting Braun, K. (2011). The prefrontal-limbic system: development,
what we experience through our senses. neuroanatomy, function, and implications for socio-
emotional development. Clinics in Perinatology, 38(4),
Half a Brain? Those Two Hemispheres 685-702.
From above, the brain is also divided into two very similar, Carter, R. (2009). The Human Brain Book. New York, NY:
inter-connected hemispheres. They do have somewhat Doring Kindersley Ltd.
differing functions, but almost all talk of ‘right brain’ and Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
‘left brain’ we hear in the community is an inaccurate over- (2016). From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A
simplification. The corpus callosum, found in the middle science-based approach to building a more promising
of the brain, connects the two hemispheres of the cortex. future for young children and families Retrieved from
It consists of approximately 200 million myelinated fibres. http://www.devlopingchild.harvard.edu
The function of this area is to integrate the activities of the Dekaban, A. S., & Sadowsky, D. (1978). Changes in brain
left and right hemispheres, in itself, a remarkably complex weights during the span of human life: relation of brain
business.7 weights to body heights and body weights. Annals of
Neurology, 4(4), 345-356.
The regions described above are just some examples of the Henstridge, C. M., Tzioras, M., & Paolicelli, R. C. (2019). Glial
way we understand brain structure and function: there are contribution to excitatory and inhibitory synapse loss in
many more. neurodegeneration. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience,
13(63). doi:10.3389/fncel.2019.00063
Conclusion Lenroot, R. K., & Giedd, J. N. (2006). Brain development in
Brains are amazing, but complicated. Learning about children and adolescents: insights from anatomical
them can be frustrating and confusing, but is also very magnetic resonance imaging. Neuroscience &
rewarding. There are real ‘a-ha’ moments when they help Biobehavioral Reviews, 30(6), 718-729.
us understand ourselves and others. But nothing is ever Webb, S. J., Monk, C. S., & Nelson, C. A. (2001). Mechanisms
simple. of postnatal neurobiological development:
implications for human development. Developmental
Since they make us who we are, and we are all so Neuropsychology, 19(2), 147-171.
much the same, and yet so different, they are endlessly
fascinating.

In the context of child development, just a little

understanding of brains and the way they ‘connect up’ in
the early years is very useful indeed.

If you enjoyed this article, here are a few others that may
be of interest:
Wiring the brain http://www.brainwave.org.nz/wiring-the-
brain-2/

From certainty to complexity: risk & protective factors in

child development http://www.brainwave.org.nz/certainty-
complexity/

Teenagers: It’s not just their hormones it’s their brain

https://www.brainwave.org.nz/teenagers-its-not-just-their-
hormones-its-their-brains/

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