The Minds vs The Brain
We tend to view the mind as an intellectual abstraction, while the brain is a biological organ much like the heart or lungs. We refer to the mind a result of all of our thinking processes – the choices we make, our style of conversation, how fast we can add and subtract, and our logic and reasoning. The mind is one huge metaphor. I have dissected a brain in anatomy class but can you dissect a mind? The mind is complex and thought of highly as the process that separates man from animal. We all may have heard of the movie “The Beautiful Mind” but we usually do not hear about “The Beautiful Brain.” (Actually, I remember a student standing not too far away from me during dissection who saw the sheep brain, with its perfect colors and contours, and said “Wow, what a beautiful brain!”) The brain and spinal cord are the control centers of the human body. Vital functions such as our temperature, heartbeat, and breathing are ultimately regulated by the brain in the cerebellum region. The cerebellum, that lower part of brain that looks like cauliflower in pictures, can be thought of as the primitive brain which controls life functions. Now all the way to the front of the brain is the cerebrum near where your forehead is located. This is known as the intellectual brain. When we refer to the mind, we refer to the processes of the cerebrum. This is the bridge connection between brain and mind.