Session 2: The Biology of the Brain LITE Session 2: The Biology of the Brain

What’s the point of this?

Most animals need a brain to navigate around the world, to make decisions and predictions about what will happen next and to react to external information. Brains are for figuring out and predicting the external world They also tell our bodies how to respond.

So why don’t Jellyfish have brains?!

They don’t react to very much in their environment – they are swept along in ocean currents and use tentacle to gather food – they don’t actively decide where to go.

There are 80 billion brain cells (neurones) in the average adult

Neural networks are complicated! Each of the 80 billion neurones can make up to 10,000 connections (Anyone want to calculate the total figure of possibilities?!) It’s not really surprising things can sometimes go wrong Mental health problems occur when things go wrong in the neural networks of the brain.

Learning outcomes The brain is a complex organ Different regions have specific jobs but all regions are connected by billions of neuron cells Mental health problems occur when problems happen in the neural network As the brain is so complex, Scientists and doctors can’t yet tell where the problems have occurred or often what’s caused them.