Here is a
simplified analogy of how the brain works:
Brain as a Company Diagram
Artwork: Biomedical Communications, University of British Columbia, 1987
I find it helps to understand how the brain works if you think of
it as the workforce of a company. The company runs at peak efficiency
when all the parts are working.
- Vice Presidents
Up at the front of the company
(frontal temporal lobes) are the vice presidents, and there are several
vice presidents. They make the plans for the company, they
decide who’s going to do what and when. As things get
underway, they get feedback or information as to how well things
are going and they judge it - that looks good or not so good; and
they make further decisions - change that, keep this; and show appreciation
or annoyance. So, up at the front you have planning, organization,
decision-making, judgement and appreciation.
- Managers
In the middle (parietal association cortex) are the managers and
each manager runs its own department. On the left side of
the brain is a speech department (move the tongue, lips and
throat muscles); a language department (find the words you
want, know what the words mean) and a motor department - move the
right arm and right leg. On the right side is another motor
department (move the left arm and left leg); and a spatial reasoning
department - (find your way around a building, know where you are
when driving a car, down to the basics such as getting your arm
through a sleeve). Also
over there is a music department and a few incidentals. In
a very simpliefied view the right side is the picture side and
the left side is the talking side.
The managers know what the plan is from the vice presidents,
and they make sure it gets carried out. In order to do
this, they communicate frequently with one another and with the
vice presidents, sending messages back and forth.
- Workers
At the bottom, (limbic region, amygdala, basal ganglia) are the
workers. They don’t know what the plan is from the vice
presidents, but they know their job and they do the same job day
in and day out. Things like appetite control, need for water,
staying alert and awake or going to sleep, and basic emotions -
turn on the tears, make the face red, increase the pulse rate.
- Getting Fired
Basically in a brain injury, someone gets fired. It can be
a vice president, a manager or a worker, depending on the injury. You
can also have someone go on a leave of absence; that occurs when
there is a temporary swelling or loss of blood supply that is returned
in a short time. The result of the injury is to reduce the
efficiency of the company. Messages get sent but aren’t
picked up. The vice presidents get annoyed; the managers get
fatigued; and the emotional workers get overwrought. Confusion
reigns. A primary purpose of rehabilitation is to find out
who got fired and who is still on the job, so messages can be re-routed
and the company can become more and more efficient again.
Verna Amell, Ph.D
Psychologist,
Written, 1987
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