Brainy Act
Cerebral Cortex
Learning and Concentrating
Hypothalamus
This 'internal clock' controls
appetite, breathing, waking,
sleeping and temperature
Hippocampus
Memories of Lucy's
day are made here
Amygdala
Cerebellum
This controls Lucy's emotions
Stores movement
memories so Lucy can
remember how to walk
or ride a bike
Brainy Act
Lucy is 10 years old. She likes school, Irish
dancing and playing with her little brother,
Ben. Lucy's days are filled with activity and
learning. Weighing just a little more than a
bag of sugar, Lucy's brain contains more
nerve cell connections than there are stars
in the universe. Her brain controls her every
movement, sensation and emotion from her
most ordinary behaviour to her most faraway
thoughts and earliest memories. Let's spend
a day with Lucy and take a closer look at her
amazing brain.
Rise and shine!
"Lucy, time to get up!" Lucy yawns and rubs
her eyes. Inside Lucy's head, a tiny peasized area in the centre of her brain called
the hypothalamus has already prepared Lucy
for a new day. Lucy's hypothalamus controls
her circadian rhythm or 'internal clock'. This
part of her brain helps to keep Lucy awake
during the day and asleep at night. As Lucy
wanders into the kitchen her stomach starts
to rumble as she pours herself a bowl of her
favourite cereal. Lucy's appetite, as well as
many other basic survival functions such as
breathing, body temperature and heart rate,
is controlled by her hypothalamus.
Cycling to school
Lucy and her mum cycle the short distance
to Lucy's school every morning. As she
cycles, Lucy's cerebellum monitors the
relationship between her body and the world
around her, helping her to balance and
coordinate her movements. This is a peachsized structure at the base of our brains. The
cerebellum stores "movement memories".
These memories are the reason why we
never forget certain skills such as walking
or riding a bike.
At School
In school as Lucy learns and concentrates
she uses her cerebral cortex. This is the
thinking part of her brain. Lucy uses it to
solve math problems, learn spellings, write
essays and draw pictures. Both Lucy's shortterm memory (what she ate for breakfast
this morning) and long-term memory (where
she went on holidays last summer) are stored
in this part of the brain. During her Irish
dancing lesson after school, Lucy's cerebral
cortex also helps her to learn and memorise
new dance steps.
At Play
After school, Lucy plays with Ben. The
amygdala, the brain's emotion centre, triggers
Lucy's feelings for her brother and as
anybody with a little brother can imagine,
Lucy sometimes experiences both feelings
of happiness and exasperation.
Bedtime
After a full day, Lucy falls asleep quickly.
While she sleeps, her brain doesn't rest. It
has a busy night ahead. In the centre of
Lucy's brain an area called the hippocampus
busily sorts through all the events of her day
and helps construct new memories of all
those experiences.
Indeed, Lucy's brain is truly amazing. As she
grows, learns and changes, so too will her
brain, allowing her to fully experience all the
feelings, sensations, smells, tastes, sights,
sounds and adventures of life.
Brainy Act
Brainy Act Facts
Your brain is divided into two sides.
The left side of your brain controls the
right side of your body; and the right
side of your brain controls the left side
of your body.
The human brain is approximately 75%
water.
If the blood supply to the brain is lost,
a person will become unconscious after
8-10 seconds.
Brainy Act Activities
Can you find other items that weigh
about the same as the brain?
Name some other major organs of the
human body. What do they do?
How does the brain protect itself from
injury and disease?
Find out more about the brain and lots
of brain activities at http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/
experi.html