The complexity of the human mind astounds me! The very idea that memories of smells, sounds, sights, and even information can be stored in a living electrical fashion is a mind blowing concept. Not only in the storage astonishing, but the speed at which our brains function is (no pun intended) mind blowing. An uncoated neuron in a human brain can carry signals at speeds of up to seventy five feet per second and a coated neuron running the lengths of the body can carry signals at up to four hundred and fifty feet per second! How amazing is that? It is this speed that allows individuals to react to stimuli in hundredths or even thousandths of a second and also what enables people to be so aware. I sometimes cannot even believe what I am learning in biology because it seems almost impossible in my mind (which coincidentally is what we are talking about). On top of the speed there are over a billion neuron cells densely packed within every human brain!
Straying from the cells of the brain, the specific parts are even more amazing. The hypothalamus and the pituitary glands, although tiny in proportion to the brain, control almost all hormone regulation and sexual urges that take place inside the body. This is why biology interests me. How can something so tiny control something so large? How can the brain control every organ, cause them to function in a perfect symphony, and do so in autonomous function? What I mean to say is I never wake up and tell my stomach to start digesting; my brain does it automatically! To add to this, the longevity of our bodies is a completely new beast to tackle. Functioning flawlessly (most of the time) our body has the capacity to regenerate and continue on for more than seventy years in most cases. The complexity found in us (which is so very prevalent not only in just people but in nature) never ceases to stun me and it continues to drive my ambitions to discover more about biology every single day.
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