Is the brain an exceptional organ?
The brain is the only organ in the human body that, while staying active with proper exercise and the absence of illness, can remain relatively young.
Intellectual activity, constant learning, reading and writing alone are sufficient tools for achieving that small miracle even until a very advanced age.
The brain can keep learning until the end
Find out how the brain works.
The brain is responsible for integrating all the information received by the sensory organs and organising a response.
It controls motor and emotional functions, as well as all higher cognitive functions: reasoning, emotional expression, memory, learning, etc.
It is made up of the following parts:
The cortical structures or cerebral cortex are divided into different lobes: frontal (A), parietal (B), temporal (C), occipital (D), limbic and insular lobes (the latter two are hidden in the image). Moreover, these lobes are divided in half into two hemispheres: the right and the left.
The subcortical structures correspond to structures that lie beneath the cerebral cortex, such as the corpus collosum (1) (which joins the two hemispheres), the thalamus (2), the basal ganglia, the amygdala, the hippocampus and the mammillary bodies (3).
The cerebellum (4) is the second largest part of the brain and it is mainly involved in posture control and movement, although it also performs some cognitive functions.
The hypothalamus (5) and the pituitary gland (6) are responsible for visceral functions such as regulating body temperature and basic behaviours such as eating, sexual response, search for pleasure, aggressive response, etc.
The pineal gland (8) is responsible, among other visceral functions, for synchronising the release of the hormone melatonin and regulating sleep-wake cycles so that it is coordinated with the optic chiasm (7).
The brainstem is made up of the spinal cord (11), the medulla oblongata (10), the pons (9) and the midbrain (12).
The brainstem controls automatic functions such as blood pressure or heart rate, limbic movements and visceral functions such as digestion and urination.
How can a person reach 100 years old and do so with a healthy brain?
Compared to many organs that inevitable deteriorate with age, the brain has the ability to constantly remain plastic and continue learning until the end.
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing”.
Bernard Shaw.
Playwright.
“Any man could,
if he were so inclined,
be the sculptor of his own brain”.
Santiago Ramón y Cajal.
Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1906.
An efficient brain
Víktor Korchnói
Even after being confined to a wheelchair after suffering from two strokes, being deaf, having his left leg paralysed, as well as a palliative catheter in place for his severe heart problems, this two-time chess runner-up brilliantly returned to compete at the age of 84. How can such a deteriorated body have such an efficient brain?
In this video, Mercedes Atienza Ruiz, tenured professor at Universidad Pablo de Olavide, analyses the role of interaction between cardiovascular resistance markers (CRM), systemic inflammation (SI) and cognitive reserve (CR) in successful cognitive ageing.