Brain

The Brain is the control centre of the body. It controls our thoughts, emotions, awareness, mood, movements and sensations.

It is made up of millions of nerve cells, called neurones, that communicate with each other via electric signals or chemical messengers passing from one cell to the next. These cells are supported by other cells, the glial cells, which provide nutrition. It is connected to the rest of the body via nerves in the spinal cord, through which it both receives information and sends instructions. It is protected by a fluid - the cerebro-spinal fluid, or CSF - and a lining, the meninges.

Besides nerve cells, it contains glands; the pituitary, which produces hormones that control other glands in the body such as the thyroid, and the pineal, which controls our body clock.

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