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Anatomy of the Brain: Major Regions

Anatomy of the Brain: Major Regions

The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. It consists of four main parts: the cerebrum, diencephalon, cerebellum, and brainstem.
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The brain is an integral component of the nervous system and serves as the center for processing sensory inputs, making decisions, and directing bodily actions. This complex organ is organized into three primary sections: the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain, each responsible for a range of vital functions.
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Cerebrum: Anatomical Overview I

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The main and largest component of the human brain is the cerebrum. The cerebrum consists of two main parts: the cerebral cortex, an outer layer with wrinkles or folds known as gyri and shallow grooves called sulci, and a deeper region beneath it. The cerebrum divides into two distinct hemispheres and contains five different lobes: the frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital, and insula. The central sulcus separates the frontal and parietal lobes and two functionally important gyri — the...

Cerebrum: Anatomical Overview II

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Each cerebral hemisphere can be divided into three main regions. The outermost region, the cerebral cortex, is a thin layer (2 to 4 millimeters thick) made up of gray matter, consisting of neuron cell bodies, dendrites, glial cells, and blood vessels. The middle region, or white matter, is primarily composed of myelinated nerve fibers organized into three types of large tracts: association fibers, commissures, and projection fibers. Association fibers connect different areas within the same...

Cerebellum: Anatomical Regions

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The cerebellum, also known as the "little brain," is located in the posterior cranial fossa, inferior to the tentorium cerebelli and dorsal to the brainstem. It plays a significant role in motor control, coordination, and proprioception.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Published on: October 13, 2023

Brain anatomical networks in early human brain development.

Yong Fan¹, Feng Shi, Jeffrey Keith Smith

¹National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. yfan@nlpr.ia.ac.cn

|July 24, 2010

Summary

Human brain networks exhibit small-world topology and modularity from birth. These characteristics develop with age, enhancing information transfer and balancing local processing with global integration in the developing brain.

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Published on: May 12, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Neuroscience
Network Science

Background:

Human brain networks display economic small-world topology and modular organization.
Efficient information transfer relies on these network properties.
The developmental trajectory of these brain network features remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the emergence and development of small-world topology and modular organization in human brain networks.
To analyze developmental patterns of brain anatomical networks from infancy to early childhood.

Main Methods:

Utilized longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 28 healthy pediatric subjects.
Collected data at three time points: 1 month, 1 year, and 2 years of age.
Analyzed brain anatomical networks derived from morphological correlations of regional brain volumes.

Main Results:

Infant brain networks (1-month-olds) already possess small-world topology and modular organization.
Network cost efficiency and modularity increase significantly with brain development up to 2 years of age.

Conclusions:

Small-world topology and modular organization are established early in human brain development.
These network properties support efficient information transfer and integration during rapid early brain growth.
Development optimizes brain networks for balancing local processing and global integration with minimal wiring cost.