Brain

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/brain

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the estimated number of neurons?Approximately 86 billion
2. What is the primary neurotransmitter systems?Dopaminergic, serotonergic, cholinergic, and glutamatergic systems
3. What is the brain and why is it important?The brain is the control center of your body. It helps you think, feel, and move, and it manages everything from breathing to learning new things.
4. How did the brain evolve over time?It started as simple networks in early animals and grew into a complex system with a forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. In humans, the cerebrum and especially the neocortex expanded to give us advanced thinking and language.

Neuroplasticity: The brain's capacity to change and adapt its structure and function in response to experience.
Neurotransmitter: Chemical messengers that transmit signals across synapses between neurons.
Neocortex: The outermost layer of the cerebrum, responsible for higher-level cognitive functions in mammals.