Brain Learning

So how does your brain learn? Your brain is organized into two hemispheres and four lobes. The hemispheres and the lobes have specific functions. In the past, scientists learned about the functions of these parts from patients who had had strokes or diseases. But now we have this very cool Functional MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). FMRI's can take pictures of our brains while we are doing stuff like reading, thinking, making connections etc.

There are two hemispheres of the brain: the right and the left.

1. The left hemisphere is responsible for what goes on on your right side as well as for your speech.
   
2. The right hemisphere is responsible for what you can do with your left side.

Then there are the lobes; four of them to be precise.

1. The Occipital Lobe is in the back of the brain and is responsible for vision. When an experienced reader reads this, s/he is reading while using the occipital lobe. But if an early reader or someone with dyslexia were reading, s/he would most likely be reading or processing the words in the frontal lobe.
   
   
2. The Temporal Lobe is responsible for understanding language, speaking, and some visual recognition.
   
   
3. The Parietal Lobe interprets sensory information like touch, temperature, pressure and pain, and it also plays a role in understanding language as well. But the coolest thing is that the Parietal lobe has this awesome sci-fi deal going on with it. The scientists can see it light up in the FMRI's in people who see UFO's or who have had near death experiences (you know, the ones where they see the light and the tunnel?).
   
   
4. And finally, there is the Frontal Lobe. The Frontal lobe is like the secretary of your brain. It helps you plan and organize, strategize, problem solve, and make decisions. It also helps control your movement, and it has a lot to do with your social behavior. It also has a very specific link to your emotions and your memory.
   

So those are the major organizing structures of your brain. Then there is the stuff deep inside your brain like the corpus callosum and, my personal favorite, the amygdala.

Deep Inside Your Brain