Imagine that your brain is not just an organ of flesh and neurons but a bustling, thriving city. Those of us following evidence believe it is the 'micocosmization' of the universe.
In this metropolis, different districts have unique functions, just like in any urban environment.
They also evolve in a time-lapse, from the oldest part of downtown to the bursting metropolitan techno-industrial hub.
Let’s take a tour through Brain City and explore how this incredible structure has evolved over millions of years, matching both the evolutionary tree and the journey we take from childhood to adulthood.
Downtown: The Reflex Zones of the Brain
Our tour begins in Brain City's Downtown district, the oldest part of the city. This part is indispensable because it is a place where the essential, no-nonsense work happens.
This area represents the brainstem, also known as the reptilian brain, because we share this structure with all vertebrates, from reptiles to birds to mammals.
Downtown is where basic life-sustaining functions occur, much like how the downtown area of any city where essential businesses, financial activities, government offices, historical landmarks, shopping centers, restaurants, transportation hubs, and more can be found.
You’ll find the neurological equivalent of fire stations, traffic lights, and power plants in the brainstem. The brainstem controls automatic functions like heart rate, breathing, and reflexes. Just as city services function without you thinking about them, your brainstem keeps you alive without asking for your conscious input.
The spinal reflexes—the snap decision-makers—allow you to pull your hand away from a hot stove faster than you can think. These reflexes are your brain’s “automated emergency responder that maintain our brain, and brain health.
If you ever wondered why you sometimes react to things before realizing what happened, like blinking at a flying object towards the eye, it’s because downtown is always on high alert. It’s the foundation upon which the rest of Brain City was built over evolutionary time, but it’s not the most glamorous neighborhood. For that, we need to head to Main Street.
Main Street: The Emotional and Hormonal Hub of the Midbrain
Several connecting roads and bridges lead out of downtown to the livelier and more colorful section of Brain City—the midbrain.
This is Main Street, where emotions, memories, and hormones shape the experience of living in the city. While downtown handles the essentials, Main Street is all about connections, feelings, emotions, sexuality, and interaction. You could think of this area as the older, residential heart of Brain City, where the town’s personality lives.
The midbrain is the seat of your emotional responses, much like Main Street, where people come together to share experiences.
The limbic system includes structures like the amygdala (stress response) and hypothalamus—they are the emotional and hormonal ‘administrators’.
These structures are responsible for processing emotions like fear, pleasure, and anger, and they regulate vital hormones that affect our mood, hunger, and even how we respond to stress.
Picture a bustling community center on Main Street where everything from joy to sorrow is discussed and shared. It’s also where important memories are stored and replayed, shaping how we react to situations based on the memory of previous experiences.
This part of the brain develops most rapidly in children, marking emotional milestones, from a baby’s first smiles and cries to a child learning empathy and self-control.
Just like in a town’s early days, where the focus is on forming relationships and community bonds, the midbrain helps children form emotional connections, which are crucial for survival in social environments. But as the city expands and technology advances, so does Brain City. Welcome to the New City—the neocortex.
The New City: The Industrial and Tech Hub of the Neocortex
Finally, we arrive at the crown jewel of Brain City: the neocortex. This part of the brain is like a modern city's booming industrial and tech hub, teeming with innovation, ideas, and higher-order processes. In evolutionary terms, the neocortex is the youngest part of the brain, yet it’s where we find the functions that make us distinctly human.
Imagine high-rise buildings and sleek office spaces filled with engineers, tech entrepreneurs, and scientists—people solving complex problems, designing new technology, and coming up with creative solutions. The neocortex is the communication hub from which the external environment, including the universal cosmic scheme, interacts.
In this New City, the neocortex handles advanced cognitive functions like reasoning, planning, language, and decision-making. It’s the control center for everything from thinking and imagining to strategizing and reflecting on abstract concepts.
If you’ve ever found yourself daydreaming, solving a complex problem, or planning your next move in a career or personal project, it’s your neocortex hard at work. This part of Brain City represents the height of human evolution—our ability to survive, thrive, innovate, and shape our world.
The neocortex is why we can build skyscrapers and space stations, write novels, compose music, and ask ourselves, “What is the meaning of life?” It is the seat of the Mind.
As children develop into adults, their New City grows in complexity. Babies are born with most of their brainstem and midbrain functions in place, but the neocortex, like a brand-new city under construction, matures over time.
This explains why toddlers learn to speak and understand abstract concepts slowly and why teenagers struggle with decision-making—their New City is still under heavy development!
From Evolution to Milestones: Building the Brain Metropolis
The layout of Brain City reflects our evolutionary journey, from our reptilian ancestors, who relied on their downtown brainstem to survive, to modern humans, with our New City of innovation and abstract thought.
As we grow from children to adults, we also experience the stages of Brain City development, moving from basic reflexes like putting every object into the mouth to emotional intelligence and, finally, to high-level reasoning.
But even as we revel in the advances of the New City, we shouldn’t forget how essential it is to maintain the roads and bridges to downtown and Main Street, where the Reflexes that keep us alive still reside. Emotions make life meaningful. The neocortex allows us to explore what it means to be human.
So, next time you marvel at your ability to solve problems, experience deep emotions, or even react to danger instantly, remember that you’re living in a highly evolved, intricately connected Brain City. This metropolis continues to grow and innovate with every new experience.
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