There are times where a person experiences something so profoundly eye-opening that they can’t explain it in words. Fortunately, this is not of those times.

This video is from the TED2008 Conference (TED = Technology. Entertainment. Design)

I love to teach others about what neuroscience is all about, and I feel that this video gives a glimpse into a world that few have had a chance to really understand. I don’t claim to understand the entirety of the nervous system, but these “lesson” blog posts will provide a brief overview into the study of the brain, and perhaps you will come to love neuroscience as much as I have.

Indeed, the brain does come in two halves - the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere.  They are connected via the corpus callosum, and although their functions differ, they remain structurally identical (in terms of neuronal organization).  Additional notes:  The left hemisphere controls the right part of the body, while the right hemisphere controls the left part of the body.  They cross in the spinal cord at a point called the pyramidal decussation, where the neurons leaving the brain stem for other parts of the body switch sides.  This decussation occurs near C1/C2, at the beginning of the spinal cord.