Brain planes

UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN THROUGH MRI IMAGES

It's unfathomable how amazing our brain is! At 3 pounds it holds billions of neurons. A unique and one of a kind organ that's complex and powerful at the same time.

Our brain is responsible for functions such as our five senses, controlling emotions, movements and interprets information. All our memory, creativity, intelligence are governed by our brain.

Starting off with the three main parts which are:

cerebrum which is the largest part of the brain that fills up most of your skull. This part of our brain interprets touch. It also involves memory and problem solving.

brainstem is located in the back of the head just under the cerebrum. It coordinates our muscle movement and balance

cerebellum connects both the cerebrum and brainstem to the spinal cord. It mainly controls breathing, heart rate and digestion.

A longitudinal fissure divides the cerebrum into two parts: left hemisphere dominates and controls muscle coordination on the right side of our body. It also controls comprehension and writing. While the right hemisphere controls our memory, reasoning, and attention. Connecting both hemisphere lies the corpus callosum which sits right in the middle of our brain. This acts as a vital landmark for reading MRI scans. These two halves of the brain are intertwined by white matter (myelinated axons) which helps the body process information through receiving and sending signals.

The brainstem is responsible for the automatic functions that are vital in life such as breathing and blood pressure. It has three sections in descending order: midbrain, pons, and medulla oblangata.

Cerebellum controls voluntary movements such as walking posture, coordination speech and balance.

Our brain is surrounded by bone structures called cranium which protects the brain from injury. The three meninges are:

Dura matter which is the outermost layer membrane of the skull and strongest layered membrane.

Arachnoid membrane is a thin, delicate, transparent membrane that surrounds the spinal cord.

Pia matter which is the inner layer that contains cerebrospinal fluids that circulates around the brain.

With the use of neurons, this controls the brain to communicate with the body in the form of electricity. Message can travel from one lobe to another, one side of the brain to another thus reaching deeper structures in the brain.

Hypothalamus controls the autonomic system. Behaviors such as thirst, hunger, sleep and sexual response. Also produces hormones that control body temperature and heart rate.

Thalamus this acts as the body's information relay station before being sent to the brains cerebral cortex for interpretation.

Pituitary gland is called the "master gland" regulates the functions of gland and hormone production.

Basal ganglia allows unconscious coordination of muscle action movements.

Understanding the anatomy of the brain will guide you and help identify the location and its functions.