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Definition: Brain from The Encyclopedia of Applied Animal Behaviour & Welfare

The brain is the organ that controls the central nervous system. It is closely connected to the sensory apparatus and is mainly responsible for behaviour. In vertebrates, the brain is differentiated into areas with specific functions (brain modularity). The neocortex is the part principally devoted to the higher cognitive processes in mammals.

Majolo, Bonaventura

brain

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
In higher animals, a mass of interconnected nerve cells forming the anterior part of the central nervous system , whose activities it coordinates and controls. In vertebrates , the brain is contained by the skull. The brain is composed of three main regions. At the base of the brainstem , the medulla oblongata contains centres for the control of respiration, heartbeat rate and strength, blood pressure, and thermoregulatory control (the control of body temperature) – all examples of involuntary bodily functions. Overlying this is the cerebellum , which is concerned with coordinating complex muscular processes such as maintaining posture and moving limbs, and the control of balance. The cerebrum (cerebral hemispheres) are paired outgrowths of the front end of the forebrain, in early vertebrates mainly concerned with the senses, but in higher vertebrates greatly developed and involved in the integration of all sensory input and motor output, and in thought, emotions, memory, and…
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Full text Article Brain

From The Human Body Book: An Illustrated Guide to Its Structure, Function and Disorders Full text Article Nervous System
Brain structures A section down the middle of the...
The brain, in conjunction with the spinal cord, regulates both non-conscious processes and coordinates most voluntary movement. Furthermore, the brain is the site of consciousness, allowing humans to think and learn. …
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Full text Article brain

From The American Heritage Student Science Dictionary
brain
The part of the nervous system in vertebrates that is enclosed within the skull, is connected with the spinal cord, and is composed of gray matter and white matter. It receives and interprets impulses from sense organs, and it coordinates and controls body functions and activities such as walking…
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Full text Article Left Brain/Right Brain

From Encyclopedia of Special Education: A Reference for the Education of Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Disabilities and Other Exceptional Individuals
Although we have long known that the brain contains two sides, only recently have we begun to understand the behaviors controlled by the two sides. Prior to the 1950s, it was assumed that both sides of the brain perform equal functions. However, Sperry (1913–1994) performed a series of studies that…
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Full text Article Brain

From Black's Veterinary Dictionary
Brain of dog.
The brain and the spinal cord together form what is called the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM . In the domestic animals, as in man, the principal parts of the brain (front to back) are as follows: The cerebrum. This is by far the largest part, and consists of two hemispheres separated by a deep cleft. The…
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Full text Article Brain Development

From Encyclopedia of the Human Brain
GLOSSARY The brain is the most complex of all biological tissues in nature. The complexity lies in the fact that the brain is an extremely heterogeneous tissue, composed of many constituent parts. Each part not only has its own structural organization, cellular makeup, chemical composition, and…
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Full text Article Brain Functions

From The Brain Book: An illustrated guide to its structure, function and disorders Full text Article The Brain and the Body
Brain Functions
The primary task of the brain is to help maintain the whole body in an optimal state relative to the environment, in order to maximize the chances of survival. The brain does this by registering stimuli and then responding by generating actions. In the process, it also generates subjective…
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Full text Article Brain

From Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology
Parts of the brain.
The brain is an organ that is part of the central nervous system, located in the skull. It controls mental and physical actions of the body. The brain, with the spinal cord and network of nerves, controls information flow throughout the body; voluntary actions, such as walking, reading, and talking; …
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Full text Article brain

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
the supervisory center of the nervous system in all vertebrates. It also serves as the site of emotions, memory, self-awareness, and thought. Occupying the skull cavity (cranium), the adult human brain normally weighs from 2 1/4 to 3 1/4 lb (1–1.5 kg). Differences in weight and size do not correlate…
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Full text Article Brain

From Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
Diagram of the brain indicating sites and causes...
The brain is the part of the central nervous system (CNS) inside the skull (the part outside the skull is the spinal cord). It gives rise to cognitive thought processes and controls various body functions including muscular activity, speech, sight, hearing, breathing, and digestion. The brain is the…
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Full text Article BRAIN

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
American writer Imagine the brain, that shiny mound of being, that mouse-gray parliament of cells, that dream factory, that petit tyrant inside a ball of bone, that huddle of neurons calling all the plays, that little everywhere, that fickle pleasuredome, that wrinkled wardrobe of selves stuffed…
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