You are your brain

Organization of Central Nervous System

Central nervous system is made up from different structures: a structure called encephalon, which is located inside the cranium and another structure called spinal cord, placed inside the spinal canal. In the base of the CNS, the spinal cord is joined to the diencephalon through the brainstem, whose components are: the medulla oblongata, the pons and the midbrain. The telencephalon lies above the diencephalon, while the cerebellum is located behind the medulla oblongata.

The spinal cord is located inside the spinal canal and, besides keeping communicated the brain with the rest of the body, it is made up from some spinal reflex circuits that take precedence over voluntary movement to those stimuli that could damage our body. There are two substances inside the spinal cord: the gray matter, which can be found in the center, and the white matter in the periphery. The gray matter contains the cell bodies of neurons, while the white matter is composed of myelinated axons. The neurons are cells composed by a body which is made up by a nucleus; also the dendrites, that are branched projections which conducts the information received from other neurons, and finally an axon terminal recovered of myelin which sends and receives electrical impulses.
The encephalon is composed of all the structures inside the cranium. In the base of the encephalon, it is found the brainstem whose components are: the medulla oblongata that continues the spinal cord structure, the pons that is made up of transverse fibers; and the mesencephalon located in the middle of the encephalon. Dislike the spinal cord, the subdivision of gray matter and white matter is not that clear since there are different gray matter nucleus which carry on both integrative and communicative functions. The brainstem is responsible of important organic functions such as cardiovascular system control, respiratory control and sleep cycle.
At the rear of brainstem, there are three peduncles connecting to the cerebellum, which is made up from the vermis and two hemispheres that are similar to those of the brain. Moreover, it could be said the cerebellum carries on all the functions of central nervous system, although it also plays an important role in language and motor learning control.

In contrast, the brain is composed of a structure made up from the diencephalon and the telencephalon. The diencephalon is located on the brainstem and is made up from the thalamus and another four components: the hypothalamus, the subthalamus, the metathalamus and the epithalamus. Each one of this structures has a specific function, the thalamus receives the sensitive information from the spinal cord and the brainstem and it is transmitted to the telencephalon. The main function of the metathalamus is the transmission of auditory and visual information to the telencephalon. The hypothalamus regulates the important functions of vegetative nervous system such as hunger, thirst and body temperature. The subthalamus is located between the fibers of a motor function associated system. Finally, the epithalamus can be identified by the pineal gland which produces melatonin that affects the modulation of wake/sleep patterns and our mood.

The telencephalon is the best-developed structure of our central nervous system, it is divided into two hemispheres: left and right, both separated by the interhemispheric fissure and connected by the corpus callosum that is an organ made up of myelinic associative fibers. The cerebral cortex is the outermost layered structure of the brain and it is characterized by its sulcus and gyrus which are necessary to increase its own area since it is limited by the cranium. The cerebral cortex is composed of five lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital and insular, which is located in the deepest part. Moreover, it can be found the limbic system which is made up from several structures with similar functions but different anatomy. The cerebral cortex is made up of the gray matter that contains the cell bodies of neurons whose axons are found in the white matter. This white matter is placed inside the telencephalon and it is known as semioval center (there is one in each hemisphere). There are large amounts of gray matter inside the white matter that are know as basal ganglia and have an important role in the motor activity. Korbinian Brodmann defined 52 distinct regions inside the cerebral cortex, each one of those divisions have a specific function. Overall, the cerebral cortex could be divided into three areas: sensory areas receive and process information from the senses., motor areas produce the different types of movements and association areas integrate information from receptors in order to produce a meaningful perception of the world.