Table of Contents
Introduction 6
Chapter 1 Why Have a Brain? 9
Coordinating Bodies 10
A Brain in the Driving Seat 14
Chapter 2 How Nerve Cells Work 19
Nerve Cells 20
Bioelectric Signals 25
How Nerve Cells Communicate 29
Chapter 3 How the Brain is Connected 33
The Spinal Cord 34
Wiring of the Brain 40
Chapter 4 Inside the Brain 45
Brain Cells 46
Layers of the Brain 50
Chapter 5 A Brain of Many Parts 55
A Plan of the Brain 56
The Brainstem and Cerebellum 60
Higher Parts of the Brain 64
Chapter 6 Vital Controls 69
Regulating Vital Functions 70
The Autonomic Nervous System 78
Chemical Signalling 84
Chapter 7 Processing Information 91
Sensing the World Around Us 92
Information Flow through the Brain 100
The Cerebral Hemispheres 106
Chapter 8 Memory 111
The Power of Memory 112
How the Brain Remembers 117
Chapter 9 The Brain, Emotion and Behavior 121
Feeling Good, Feeling Bad 122
The Secret Emotional Brain 131
Chapter 10 The Intelligent Brain 137
Evolution of the Brain 138
What is Intelligence? 144
Chapter 11 The Brain, Sex and Gender 149
Female Brain, Male Brain? 150
The Brain and Sexual Behaviour 160
Chapter 12 The Brain Through Life 165
The Brain Inside the Womb 166
The Childhood Brain 174
The Adult Brain 180
Index 186
Acknowledgements 192
