Through many years of studying and analyzing the brain, psychologists have discovered that the brain is made up of many parts which control the functional aspects of daily life. Each structure functions in different ways, some controlling the ways we think while others controlling the ways we act. Rather than referring to one single experience which pertains to a few of the main structures of the brain, I’ll lay out a series of examples of how they have been at work today.

To start off my day like any other, I first had to wake up. If I didn’t, that would be bad. My thalamus, which plays a significant role in arousal, wakefulness, and alertness, gets me up and about like an internal alarm clock. Another structure of the brain, the hippocampus, is known for converting short term memory into more permanent memory. At this very moment, it is allowing me to remember that I am typing a blog assignment for my Psych 100 class which I must finish soon, rather than letting me sidetrack off to something else in a matter of minutes while forgetting that this assignment was due in less than a day’s time. Stumbling out of bed to go take a shower this morning, I may have ran into a few more walls than usual, had my cerebellum not been on the job. Being one of the most important structures of the brain, the cerebellum is associated with the regulation and coordination of balance, movement, and posture. Luckily, the hypothalamus is there to tell me that I should probably eat something for breakfast, otherwise I would have to wait to hear my stomach practicing whale calls before I got myself some food. Some of the functions which this structure of the brain relates to include thirst, hunger, and emotion. Lastly, my amygdala allowed me to scream like a little girl when I found some weird looking bug that escaped the cold weather by latching on to me, crawling down my arm. The amygdala is most often associated with fear and emotion. Besides the last part, I could say it had been quite a normal day. It is true that I only described a few of the main structures of the brain and their roles in my daily life, but it matters not. The functions of the brain and all of its parts are innumerable, with even more new discoveries being revealed to this day.

“Brain Structures and their Functions.” Serendip. Serendip, 1994-2014. Web. 4
Feb. 2014. <http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Structure1.html>.