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sample of how to 'ping' someone:

  {{reply to|SamuelRiv|Looie496|Tryptofish|Lova Falk|Iztwoz|Tilifa Ocaufa|Tom (LT)}}

A neuroscience joke: Any brain simple enough to understand would be too simple to understand.

The Mind (as Brain functioning)

The mind is the human brain functioning.
Every aspect of the mind derives from the brain functioning.
Every mind is different from every other mind, although there can be general similarities between various minds, and differences can be both from nature, and from nurture, and from a combination of the two.

the brain is made up of neurons (and glia) which have the following characteristics:

neurons have many connections with other neurons (via synapses)
neurons will fire if they receive sufficient inputs
neurons can remember, via physical changes within one or more of:
- the pre-synaptic neuron (more vesicles?),
- the synapse itself, (more 'caging' synaptic adhesion molecules?),
- the post-synaptic neuron (more receptor sites?) ;

(memory changes might relate to which input signals at a synapse have repeatedly contributed to firing the neuron (can't find reference for this)).

The many connections that neurons make with other neurons allow that:

networks and circuits of neurons can form.
memories of events, actions, & information can be stored

Mind-as-Brain functions in relation to:

pathways among neurons along synapses and weighted synapses
frequency of firings
diffusion of neurotransmitters both to connected and nearby receptors

Cognitive Processes

Cognitive processes are complex neural processes in the brain, which derive from sub-conscious associations among memories of experiences. They occur in the conscious, sub-conscious, and unconscious (sleeping) mind, and sub-conscious processes may actually create the conscious mind.

Sensation
Memory
Association
Perception
Experience
Thought
Mood
Learning
Actions
Motor Activity
Character
Getting Things Done
Values
Aptitudes
Assumptions
Observation
Organizing
Attention
Interests
Awareness
Wakefulness
Consciousness
Cohesion
Responsibility
Intention
Contemplation
Desires
Dreams
Imagination
Personality
Problem Solving
Behavior
Coordinating
Interacting
Empathy
Working
Categorizing
Assembling
Listing
Prioritizing
Multi-tasking
Surviving
Gestalting
Working
Confidence
Socializing
Coordinating
World View
Going for it
Considering Consequences
Similarity

Sensation	Learning	Assuming	Consciousness	Imagination	Working	Gestalting	Autonomy	Doing Things
Memory	Actions	Observing	Cohesion	Personality	Categorizing	Skills	Waking up	Goal Setting
Association	Motor Activity	Organizing	Responsibility	Planning	Behavior	Confidence	Explaining	Evaluating
Perception	Character	Attention	Intention	Judgement	Listing	Socializing	Recognition	Reasoning
Experience	Accomplishing	Interests	Contemplation	Coordinating	Prioritizing	World View	Relaxing	Experimenting
Thought	Values	Awareness	Desires	Interacting	Multi-tasking	Noticing	Meditation	Contemplation
Mood	Aptitudes	Wakefulness	Dreams	Empathy	Surviving	Ambition	Judgement	Similarity
z	z	z	z	z	z	z	z

Putting Ones Head Together

Trying New Things

Self-Improvement

Making Friends

Going for it

Considering Consequences

Interests

Aptitudes

Goal Setting

Planning

Doing Things

Perseverance

Problem Solving

Decision Making

Thoughts

Probably every human being has thoughts. Thoughts are probably verbal for most people, but can probably also be variably visual, aural, kinesthetic, etc. Thoughts can just occur to a person, or be consciously directed.
Thoughts are momentary, in that they come, and then go, and are to some degree then forgotten.
Thoughts can to varying degrees leave traces of their passing behind in, and by changing, the synapses through which they passed.
Thoughts derive at least in part from memories of previous thoughts.
Thoughts which recur strengthen the traces which manifested them.

Thoughts which just occur derive from subconscious associations.

Subconscious Associations

Sub-conscious associations are the firings of neurons between sets of neurons configuring memories, along pathways among variously weighted synapses. Large numbers of sub-conscious associations are probably occurring at every moment of life, and each individual one can be a contributor to the firing of one or another one. [How do SCA occasion or transform into conscious thoughts?]

Perception

Perception is an association between a current sensory input (or set of sensory inputs) and a memory of a similar sensory input sufficient to occasion a recognition of the object, event, circumstance, action, state-of-being, etc which presented the original sensory input in the first place.

Understanding

Understanding is a mind state in which a person or entity has a large set of relevant knowledge which "stands-under" some concept, action, situation, event, etc, which knowledge adequately explains the function of the concept or the dynamics of the action or event, and allows for effective actions to be taken in relation to the concept. For instance, to 'understand' exponents, it's useful to know that exponents are just multiplication, and that multiplication is just addition, and that addition is just counting.

The Brain

The brain is the principle organ of the Central Nervous System. Its functioning allows for sensing and interacting with the environment, & gives rise to the human mind. On average it is about 1 1/3 quarts in size, & weighs about 3 pounds. Its outer surface is heavily convoluted with looping ridges & valleys, called gyri & sulci. It is composed of neurons and glia helper cells, with some hollow spaces (ventricles) filled with cerebrospinal fluid, as well as blood vessels, with 3 layers of protective covering (meninges) over its surface. Different portions of the brain have either a greyish or a white color, with grey matter being comprised of closely packed neural cell bodies, very many dendrites and short axons, whereas white matter is comprised of longer myelinated axons. The surface of the brain, comprised of grey matter, is not smoothly round like a balloon, but is instead heavily convoluted by furrows into valleys & gyrating ridges all over its surface, which increases the total surface area, and thus the amount of grey matter. The largest division separates the left & right hemispheres, joined from within by the corpus calosum, with each hemispheres surface being covered with gyri & smaller sulci over both the outermost & medial surfaces. This surface, to a depth of only about 1/10 of an inch, is the cerebral cortex, where surprisingly all of the higher functions of the brain occur. There are also groupings of masses of grey matter within white matter tracts, called nuclei.

Elemental Constituents

The elemental constituents of the brain are neurons and glia.
The brain also has meninges (the outer coverings of the brain), vasculature (blood vessels), and ventricles (spaces containing cerebrospinal fluid).

Neurons

Neurons are excitable cells found in the central nervous system (brain & spine), the peripheral nervous system (sensation & muscle control), and the enteric nervous system (digestion). Neurons can receive, process, & transmit signals, and a neuron is excitable in that it can 'fire' an action potential when sufficiently stimulated. Neurons make synapses (electro-chemical connections) with one another to provide pathways for the movement of signals between them, and some glia assist in speeding up the movement of signals along longer tracts & nerves.

structure of a neuron

A neuron is comprised of inputs (dendrites), a cell body (Soma), and an output (axon). On the soma, connecting it to the axon, is the axon hillock, & there may also be dendritic spines on the dendrites.

neural signals

Neurons receive, process, and output signals.

movement of neural signals

There are 5 ways neural signals move:

chemical synapses (between neurons via neurotransmitters)
electrical synapses (between neurons at gap junctions)
electrotonic conduction (along dendrites and soma)
action potential (along an un-myelinated axon)
saltatory conduction (along a myelinated axon)

Neural Signal Movemement

Signals related to sensation, muscle control, and cognition are processed by neurons. Neurons are excitable cells found in the central nervous system , the peripheral nervous system , and the enteric nervous system. A neuron is comprised of inputs (dendrites), a cell body (Soma), and an output (axon). Neurons connect to other neurons and muscle cells at synapses, and some may have inputs at sensory receptors. There may also be dendritic spines on dendrites for receiving signals, and signals, as action potentials, start at the beginning of an axon, the axon hillock. The movement of a signal through a neuron involves being received, processed with regard to other similar signals, and output to either other neurons, muscles, or glands at synapses.

Reception of a Signal at a Synapse

Signals are presented to a neuron at a synapse as chemicals called neurotransmitters, which bind to sites on receptors embedded in the membrane of a neuron.

Neurons receive, process, and output signals.

(a cell which can 'fire' an action potential when sufficiently stimulated) (brain & spine) (sensation & muscle control) (digestion)

Glia

Ventricles

Vasculature

Meninges

The meninges are the 3 outer coverings of the brain and the spinal cord. The 3 are the dura mater, the arachnoid mater, and the pia mater.

Dura Mater

The dura is the outermost covering of the brain. It is somewhat thick (how thick?), opaque, grey, flexible, and resistant to tearing, like a bathing cap.

Arachnoid Mater

The arachnoid is the second-most meninges, milky-white, and is thinner than the dura and translucent, somewhat like a 2 or 3 times the thickness of thin plastic wrap. There are a series of string-like structures called trabeculae connecting it to the next innermost layer, the pia, and cerebral-spinal fluid circulates within the sub-arachnoid space.

Pia Mater

The pia is the most innermost layer of meninges, and is transparent and maybe half the thickness of thin plastic wrap. It adheres closely & strongly to the surface of the brain, and follows all gyri and sulci, unlike the other two meninges, which bridge over the sulci, although they do both dive down into the inter-cerebral fissure, as the falx cerebri.

Anatomy

Cerebrum

Hemispheres

Lobes

Gyri

Sulci

Cortex

Cerebellum

Peduncles

Cerebellar peduncles connect the cerebellum to the brain stem. There are six cerebellar peduncles in total, three on each side:

Superior cerebellar peduncle is a paired structure of white matter that connects the cerebellum to the midbrain, comprised mostly of efferent (motor) fibers.
Middle cerebellar peduncles connect the cerebellum to the pons and are composed entirely of centripetal (afferent, sensory) fibers.
Inferior cerebellar peduncle is a thick rope-like strand that occupies the upper part of the posterior district of the medulla oblongata, comprised of mostly afferent (sensory) fibers.

Brainstem

The brainstem is lowest part of the brain, as an upward continuation of the spinal cord, which connects the spinal cord to the cerebrum, and inter-connects the cerebellum with the cerebrum and spinal cord(?). It's comprised of ascending (afferent) and descending (efferent) tracts of white matter (myelinated neuronal axons), surrounding various masses of grey matter (nuclei), and is covered on the outside, as is the rest of the brain and the spinal cord, with 3 layers of protective tissue called the meninges (dura mater, arachnoid mater, pia mater), and Cerebrospinal fluid is found between the dura mater and arachnoid layers of tissue.

The brainstem is composed of the medulla oblongata, the pons, and the midbrain.

Medulla Oblongata

Pons

* Locus Ceruleus

Midbrain

. red nucleus

. the periaqueductal gray

. substantia nigra

Nuclei

(Describe nuclei in general)

Basal Ganglia

Caudate Nucleus
Putamen
Globus Pallidus
(maybe not part, but Claustrum outside, & inside insula)

Functions by Area

Tractology (connections)

Tracts are sets of axons connecting different parts of the brain.
Association Tracts connect gyri in the same hemisphere
Commissural Tracts connect the two hemispheres
Projection Tracts connect higher & lower parts of the brain, and to & from the spinal cord.

Variations (among individuals)

Species Comparisons

Ontogeny

The development of the human brain from fertilized egg. A link to an article titled: "The basics of mammalian brain development": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2989000/ (which might suggest how choroid plexus gets pia into it.)

Evolution

Diseases

Other Things of Interest

how axon terminals link to capillaries in neurohypophysis

Pituicytes

reference for above https://jeb.biologists.org/content/jexbio/139/1/67.full.pdf

new research? https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2017.00275/full

picture from above https://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/294946/fendo-08-00275-HTML/image_m/fendo-08-00275-g011.jpg