Brain Basics: Neuroanatomy 101
At HappiHuman, we have been on a mission to teach you how to get a better brain for years.
We have been so focused on supporting your brain health and mental wellness for so long that it may be time to do something a little different… introduce you to your brain!
How well do you know your brain?
Do you know the main parts of the brain? Are you aware that each part is responsible for something different? Moreover, did you realize that each part of the brain has different nutritional requirements?
With that, let’s dive into a crash course about the brain that we’re calling Neuroanatomy 101!
This weeks video
Brain Basics
Let’s start at the beginning by looking at the brain and some of the parts that comprise it.
First, the brain is the executive control centre of the entire body. It is responsible for everything you do, think, say, and remember. It supervises your every action, thought, mood, and memory.
In a nutshell, your brain is what makes you, well, you!
The human brain is comprised of several parts, the largest of which is called the cerebral cortex. This walnut-looking wrinkly mass sits on top of and covers the rest of the brain. The cerebral cortex is then divided into more parts or “lobes.” You may have heard of some of them…the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and occipital lobe.
Frontal lobe - Near the front of the brain (behind your forehead) is where you can find the frontal lobe. It is made of the motor cortex, premotor cortex, and prefrontal cortex. Both the motor and premotor cortex are involved in movement. They oversee and plan movement, respectively, while the prefrontal cortex is more of a command centre. This is the executive part of the brain that deserves a closer look.
Temporal lobes - Your temporal lobes are behind the eyes and below the temples. They are involved in language, learning, memory, emotion, and auditory processing. They also stabilize moods, control temper, and perceive fear and emotional reactions. Beyond that, they assist in moving memories into long-term storage. This is another area of the brain that deserves a closer look.
Parietal lobes - The parietal lobes are located at the top, side, and back of the brain. They are the primary sensory processing centres responsible for your sense of direction, your position in space (spatial orientation), and your ability to perceive everything around you.
Occipital lobes -You’ll find the occipital lobes at the back of the cortex. As you can imagine, they are primarily concerned with vision and visual processing.
Let’s look closely at a few key areas within the cerebral cortex.
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Prefrontal Cortex
The prefrontal cortex is a major part of your frontal lobes. It also happens to be the most evolved part of the brain.
It’s involved with many of our executive functions, including:
Organization
Planning
Judgement
Forethought
Empathy
Impulse control
Focus
Time-management
Productivity
You can consider the prefrontal cortex your brain’s “brake.” It helps us think before acting and put on the brakes before engaging in risky behaviour. It’s important to note that this part of the brain is not fully developed until we reach about 25 years of age. This may account for the tendency of young people to do things “without thinking,” as we’d often say. That’s partially due to the fact that the prefrontal cortex is not fully devolved yet.
An effective prefrontal cortex will allow us to plan, organize, and think through our actions (and potential outcomes) in advance. It provides impulse control, enables us to have sound judgment, and keeps us focused and motivated to allow us to reach our goals. It’s also there to remind us that consequences of our actions exist. With a strong prefrontal cortex, we will think twice before overindulging in alcohol, cigarettes, excess speeding, and other “bad” behaviours that may have long-term consequences - like overeating.
Problems with the Prefrontal Cortex
If your prefrontal cortex isn’t working optimally, you will experience problems, as you can imagine. Those problems will manifest if there is either too much or too little activity in this part of the brain.
When there is decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, it’s as though your boss, or the entire executive team, is away on holiday, and no one is left to supervise your actions. As a result, nothing gets done. You may have impulse control problems, poor judgement, a lack of forethought, and an inability to control your actions. As a result, you’re more likely to give in to your cravings and do whatever you feel like doing at the moment.
When there is too much activity in the prefrontal cortex, it works too hard, so the opposite happens. It may feel like your boss is micromanaging you. This can lead to feelings of anxiety, overwhelm, and worry.
So what can you do?
First, understand that low blood glucose and low cerebral blood flow are likely to blame. That’s because these are associated with irritability, poor impulse control, and an inability to make good decisions. To support the prefrontal cortex, you can manage blood sugar levels by increasing protein with each meal and snack. While eating more antioxidant-rich foods like berries boost blood flow to the brain. You may also find green tea and supplementing with ginkgo biloba helpful.
Anterior Cingulate Gyrus
Also located within the brain’s frontal lobe is another area called the anterior cingulate gyrus.
This part can be summed up quickly as the brain’s “gear shifter.” It involves attention and allows us to move from thought to thought or idea to idea. It enables us to go with the flow and adapt to changes around us.Meditation and Exercise
It’s also important to recognize negative thinking patterns and identify thought processes you have that get in the way of forming healthier new habits. Daily mediation is a fantastic way to calm your mind and get more mindful of your thoughts and feelings.
You’ll also want to start incorporating exercise into your daily routine. You can start by walking for just 30 minutes a day and consider joining a walking or hiking group in your community to form a support system. If you feel you can’t manage 30 minutes, even just 15 minutes of exercise will improve your blood sugar levels and increase your alertness.
Problems with the Anterior Cingulate Gyrus
If the anterior cingulate gyrus is overactive, this gear shifter can get stuck in position. If this happens, we can dwell on things, get stuck on negative thoughts, or continue to engage in the same behaviours - even if we know they may be unhealthy.
As a result, we can immerse ourselves in harmful behaviours. Some examples are obsessing, non-stop worrying, arguing, and holding on to past hurts. In addition, we may display compulsive or addictive behaviours, including eating disorders.
So what can you do?
When the anterior cingulate gyrus is stuck, serotonin levels are low. To boost serotonin naturally, combine quality protein foods with complex carbohydrates. You can also increase consumption of tryptophan-rich foods or 5-HTP, as tryptophan is converted into 5-HRP, which is then converted into serotonin. Vitamin B6 can also be supportive of healthy serotonin levels.
Caution: If you are taking antidepressant medications like an SSRI, please do not supplement with 5-HTP, as they both work on the same pathway.
Moving on toward the centre of the brain, at the base of your cerebral cortex, lies the deep limbic system.
Limbic System
The limbic system is a tiny area of your brain that lies deep within its centre. It is considered our emotional centre, as it greatly influences our emotions. It enables us to experience and express emotions, sets our emotional tone to determine how happy or sad we are, and stores highly charged emotional memories.
The limbic system, though small, is extremely powerful! It consists of various other parts of the brain you may be familiar with:
Thalamus - relays information to and from the outside world to the cerebral cortex
Hypothalamus - controls chemicals in the brain responsible for hunger, sleep, anger, happiness and sadness
Hippocampus - helps move memories into long-term storage
Amygdala - is involved in our emotions and fear response
Olfactory cortex - connects our sense of smell to our emotional and memory centres
Problems with the Limbic System
With all these critical responsibilities, when there is too much activity in the limbic system, or it is overactive, you may experience life through a negative lens. You may become sad, moody, depressed, have negative thoughts, feel guilt over anything, or get overwhelmed quickly.
So what can you do?
Start by focusing meals around more protein and fewer carbohydrates. You may also want to consider a quality omega 3 supplement. Omega 3’s can provide many other health benefits, as well, including reducing your risk for Alzheimer’s.
You may also be interested to know that since the limbic system controls sleep and appetite, a malfunctioning limbic system will negatively affect both. We may either not get enough sleep or need too much. The same goes for our appetite. We may tend toward overeating or under-eating. So if any of these traits sound like you, you may want to give your deep limbic system a second look.
Basal Ganglia
Surrounding the limbic system is the basal ganglia. This area of the brain helps integrate feelings, thoughts, and movement. Have you ever jumped when you got startled or became “scared stiff?” If so, that’s the basal ganglia in action.
It’s also involved in habit formation and motivation.
Problems with the Basal Ganglia
When it becomes overactive, we can experience anxiety, be indecisive, and prone to conflict-avoidance. We may also engage in compulsions or repetitive behaviours like excessive hand washing, double and triple checking that you locked the door, nail-biting, or tics.
So what can you do?
Calm the basal ganglia down by increasing GABA, the calming neurotransmitter, in the brain. Both magnesium and L-Theanine can reinforce GABA’s effects, so they may also be helpful.
Caution: If you are taking antidepressant medications like an SSRI, please do not supplement with GABA, as they both work on the same pathway.
Hippocampus
Though there are other areas of the brain that can affect us in multiple ways, the final one we will consider today is the hippocampus - the seahorse-shaped structure deeply embedded within the temporal lobe. Though small, the hippocampus plays a crucial role in many important human functions, such as memory formation, emotional responses, and learning.
This is where new information and short-term memories are converted into long-term memories for storage elsewhere in the brain. Then, when those memories need to be accessed, the hippocampus helps retrieve them.
Because the hippocampus plays such an important role, when it’s damaged, our memory often suffers. It also happens that the hippocampus is extremely sensitive and can be affected by various lifestyle choices and health conditions. Some of them include:
Head injury or concussion
Stress
Aging
Nutritional deficiencies
Lack of exercise
Consistently high (or low) blood sugar levels
Insomnia
Reduced cerebral blood flow
Depression
Obesity
Regular alcohol usage
Drug abuse
So what can you do?
Regular consumption of omega-3 fatty acids found in cold water fatty fish (like salmon and sardines) or through EPA and DHA supplementation is recommended to support the hippocampus.
Conclusion
Yes, your brain is arguably the most important part of your body, yet it tends to be the least understood. So hopefully, this brief overview of brain basics has given you some insight into your brain and what goes on under the surface.
For more information about what to feed the brain, including previous blogs about Brain Foods Diets, How to Banish Brain Fog, and the Grain Brain Diet, be sure to check out HappiHuman.com today.
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[Medical Disclaimer]
Please consult with your doctor(s) before starting any new mental or physical health improvement program. The advice I offer is not intended to replace that of your medical practitioner. I am not a medical professional, nor am I qualified to diagnose, cure treat, or prevent disease. The advice I provide on this website is intended for a broad and diverse audience, and as such, deals with general lifestyle concepts, not specific healthcare advice. This material disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the advice expressed herein.