The Britannica Guide to the Brain

A guided tour of the brain - mind, memory, and intelligence.

The human brain has been studied for millennia, but in the past decades huge advances have occurred in neurology that have allowed scientists to reassess what we really know about the least understood part of the human body. Using technology that allows researchers to see deeper into the physical organ and record new discoveries, the latest theories affect not just our understanding of biology but also raise questions concerning consciousness, the mind and neuro-plasticity. We can now observe the activity of the brain as it performs different functions with scanning technology we can chart the neural pathways and devise maps. The explorations have revealed surprising results.