Did you know that the brain contains approximately 100 billion neurons? That’s how many stars there are in the Milky Way! The brain has quite an impressive range of functions, which we will explore today. We will go over the cerebellum, brainstem, diencephalon, and cerebrum.

The cerebellum has two hemispheres which are located at the back of the bottom brain. The cerebellum looks like two walnuts and has many folds to increase the surface area and accommodate for a higher density of neurons. This part of the brain is mainly in charge of controlling body and eye movements, coordination, and balance. The brainstem is at the base of your brain and is made up of the medulla, pons, and midbrain. The brainstem is what controls the pace for basic life functions like respiration, heart rate, blood pressure, and sleep.

The diencephalon is located in the center of the brain and consists of the thalamus, epithalamus, and hypothalamus. The thalamus is the gateway for all sensory signals, except for the sense of smell. The epithalamus secretes a neurotransmitter called melatonin that helps you sleep. The hypothalamus connects to your endocrine system, which controls your hormones; therefore, it controls your basic physiological functions such as: thirst, hunger, circadian rhythm, metabolism, reproduction, and aging.

When you think of the brain, you’re probably imagining the jelly-like, wrinkly lobes. This outer part of the brain is called the cerebrum. The folds in the cerebrum allow for more surface area and neurons, similarly to the cerebellum. The cerebrum has many different sensory cortices such as the visual (sight), olfactory (smell), auditory (hearing), vestibular (balance), gustatory (taste), motor (movement), and somatosensory (pressure, temperature) cortices.