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.

The central nervous system begins developing in the foetus about 18 days after conception, and has become a tube - called the neural tube - by 22 days. This proceeds to close and continues to develop throughout foetal life, and during infancy and childhood. The development is such that, under normal circumstances, the immobile infant can walk by the age of 18 months - and hop backwards by the age of 5; from being completely uncoordinated at birth they can draw well by the age of 6. They progress from being totally dependent to being able to dress themselves, and develop communication skills (sometimes selectively lost during adolescence).

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