Inside Your Brain

We humans like to think that our brains are the most complex brains on the planet--that the big, wrinkly cortex of our cerebral hemispheres, which endows us with reason and self-awareness, has made our brains the best. But the longer you study brains and behavior and the animal kingdom, the more you see that each creature's brain is the best for the environmental niche in which it lives.

The much-maligned bird brain has remarkably sophisticated cerebral organization and an amazing flight control system. The shark may have puny cerebral hemispheres, but its brain is an olfactory-processing marvel that lets Jaws live in a perceptual world of smells, and respond like a machine to minute changes in the environment. We can't do that.

But we can think great thoughts, which are important if you're small, naked, and vulnerable in a dangerous world. It's our skill, and our brain is best built to do it. Let's look under the human hood and see how--by touring the big, anatomical brain structures that we can see with the naked eye. Bear in mind that your brain is really much more complicated than this. That's why medical school takes four years, and neuroanatomy is a least favorite subject.

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