2202112 English Two                                                                     Supplementary Reading/Unit 9

CONTROL ROOM

The brain and its workings

The world's most complex computer is composed of just three pounds of grey-white matter shaped rather like an oversized shelled walnut. This is the human brain, whose IO million million working components control everything we do every moment of our lives; in a split second it has the ability to make literally thousands of inter-connections.

Each working part is a nerve cell known as a neuron, the primary power source of the brain's still unplumbed abilities. So minute that 250 of them could fit on the head of a pin, neurons both conduct electrical impulses and generate the power to send directions racing along the nervous system. These impulses move form one nerve fibre to another, dispatching messages through the brain.

The body's central nervous system, the control room for thought and action, includes not only the brain but also the spinal cord, which is the link between instructions from the brain and every sense we have.

Soft hemispheres

The brain's most obvious external features are two soft hemispheres which make up the cerebrum. These hemispheres are "mirror images" of each other, with the right hemisphere controlling movement and sensations on the left side of the body, and vice versa.

The cross-over is caused by the twisting of the nerve pathways to and from the hemisphere controls.

White matter beneath the cortex, the grey covering of the brain, makes up the hemispheres which are bridged by tissue called the corpus callosum.

Most information is stored subconsciously, so it is true to say that people are not aware of all that they know. However, this varies from one individual to another.

 

Left-handed child
In most people the left hemisphere is dominant, with the result that the majority of us are right-handed. In those who are left-handed, the right hemisphere of the brain is dominant. For this reason it is unwise to force a left-handed child to be right-handed. Even in ambidextrous people, one hand is usually dominant.

Recent research in Britain and the United States demonstrates clearly that each hemisphere is associated with different functions. The left controls speech, reading, writing and calculations. The right is the ëculturalí side, in control of visual appreciation, the arts and abstract thought. We also know that one hemisphere turns itself off when the other is in use, making it impossible to think of two things at once.

Western education, with its emphasis on the three Rs, has tended in the past to concentrate on development of the left hemisphere, but more attention is now being paid to the right side.

Beneath the cerebral hemisphere lies the cerebellum, the vital link between the brain and the spinal cord, which coordinates the actions of muscles and determines how fast they will work. The cerebellum also has two hemispheres of its own. It is associated with balance and muscular co-ordination.

Buried under these is the brain stem which controls the heart, the lungs and the digestive system.

The male brain is on average slightly heavier than that of a female. That is due only to the fact that men usually have heavier bodies than women, and need rather bigger brains to have comparable intelligence.

The massive memory section in the cerebral cortex is believed to contain enough potential connections to receive ten new items if information every second of life. And the brain each day makes 100 times more connections than the world's telephone systems.

Comprehension Check

  1. In what way does the writer suggest the human brain is like a computer?

  2. What is the main source of the brain's power?

     

  3. Is it possible to see this power source with the naked eye?

     

  4. Where exactly is the body's "control room"?

     

  5. Why are the two hemispheres called "mirror images" of each other?

     

  6. What is the writer referring to when he or she uses the term "the cross-over"?

  7. Are people aware of everything they know?

  8. Why do you think it is unwise to force a left-handed child to be right-handed?

  9. The fact that western education has concentrated more on the development of the left
    hemisphere suggests that the three skills (the 'Three R's') it emphasizes should include:

    10. 1_________________2___________________ 3__________________

  10. True or false? There is only a limited amount of information that a human being is capable of storing in his or her memory.

Vocabulary #1: Select the words from the box and write them under one of the nine words below which you think they are linked to in some way. Each of the nine words should have three entries beneath it.

To send forth             not fully understood           double-dealing      transverse

Organic substance          hidden                         diminutive             a bulletin

Passing across              miniscule                         harmonize            not thoroughly

delved into                     Interchange                   promptness           arrange

constituent                    Undiscovered                 cells                    subliminal

netlike structure              Part                              Order                  Freudian

two-handed                    element                         versatile              fine

Component                  unplumbed                  dispatch                     cross-over

 

 

Tissue          minute               subconsciously               ambidextrous                 coordinate

 

 

Vocabulary #2: Find the words or phrases in the passage which have the same meaning as the following list of words.

  1. to be formed of
  2. in an immediate manner
  3. to move swiftly
  4. the place from which activities are directed
  5. to form something
  6. things that resemble each other exactly
  7. to have provided a connection between things
  8. occurring without conscious perception
  9. having the greatest influence
  10. to show by example

Negatives: Using your understanding of the passage, transform the following sentences into negatives, adding words that you think are appropriate.

Example:
The human brain is both a slow and inefficient organ.
The human brain is neither a slow nor an inefficient organ.

  1. The passage is about the human heart.
  2. The liver controls everything we do.
  3. The respiratory system includes not only the brain but also the spinal cord.
  4. Western education has tended in the past to concentrate on the development of the right hemisphere.
  5. The male brain is on average much heavier than that of a female.

Question Formation: Complete the following questions based on the passage.

  1. _______________ the world's most complex ____________of?
  2. ________________the human brain ____?
  3. ________________neurons could______________________pin?
  4. ________________the cerebrum_________________of?
  5. ________________the hemispheres which make up the cerebrum called________________?
  6. ________________the cerebellum l___________?
  7. ______________a male brain on average slightly ___________________________?

In-depth Questions: Write answers to these questions giving reasons for your answers.

1. Would you say that scientists know a lot about what the brain can do?

 

2. How important do you think our backs are in the functioning of the nervous system?

 

3. According to the article, each hemisphere is linked with different functions. Would you say you are left hemisphere dominant or right hemisphere dominant? Why?

 

4. List the kinds personality traits you would expect to find in a left hemisphere dominant person and a right hemisphere dominant person.

Left hemisphere dominant                                            right hemisphere dominant

 

 

 

5. The article reveals the amazing fact that the cerebral cortex may potentially receive ten new items of information every second in a human's life. Imagine some further amazing facts about the brain that scientists may discover by the year 2050.