To the average person, a human brain looks like a shrivelled up pink prune with the feel of a hard-boiled egg. While the chances of winning a beauty contest are quite miniscule, your brain's structural complexity has sparked intrigue and challenged many scientists for centuries. So what exactly is this three-pound-pile-of-mush anyways?

[Dissect the Anatomy]

Just as some people are left-handed or right-handed, have a dominant right or left eye, chances are they probably have a brain hemisphere as well. So what does it mean to be "left-brain" or "right-brain" dominant? What the heck does "left-brain" or "right-brain" mean in the first place?

[Compare Side Dominances]

Because of the brain's crucial role in the functioning of the body, layers of protection heavily guard it - the cerebrospinal fluid cushions, the surrounding three layers of meninges barricade, and finally everything is encased in a hard, solid cranium. So what happens when disease strikes or illness attacks? Disaster. By crippling the brain, illness cripples the body, the mind - the control centre of one's existence. While some brain disorders are milder than others, they all hinder our everyday functions and interrupt our lives. Vast research has been made to successfully treat people who suffer from brain disorders and allow them to cope and live as normal lives as possible. But, until cures for these disorders are found, the battle continues.

[Reveal Disorders]

Brain surgery was started millions of years ago. Starting from Neolithic (late Stone Age), ancient people had tried to work on the brain. Neolithic skulls from around the world showed holes on them trepanned. The holes have smooth edges and exhibit obvious signs of healing on them. Trepanning was practiced until comparatively recent times in Europe. Discovered remains under the earth of successful brain operations and also surgical equipment were found in France. It is shown that ancient people already had an idea to heal the brain by surgical treatment. In nowadays, people continue to work on brain surgery. How much do you know about the history of brain surgery? What are brain tumors? How many different kinds of brain tumors are there? How are we going to treat them?

[Learn About Surgery]

Brain diseases can be helped by different kinds of medicine. From ancient times onward, people had tried hard to study and make medicine to ease the suffering of ailing. As a result, in nowadays, different kinds of medicine are able to diagnose, prevent and treat certain types of diseases. Medicine has changed a lot in the last 100 years. There are many medicines treating brain diseases. Drugs that stimulate the functions of our body, particularly those that stimulate the brain and the central nervous system are called stimulants. Stimulants can be used medically to manage with sleep disorders, to control appetite or to fight against depression. Most of the drugs have side effects, but the side effects are generally mild and the drugs are effective, therefore people are still using them.

[Study the Medicine]

From early Stone Age man to modern day scientists, the brain has never ceased to intrigue humankind. For centuries, philosophers, physicians, researchers and countless others have been challenged and puzzled by the mysteries of the brain. Whether views were based on keen observation or imaginative inferences, the ideas of pioneer investigators have been challenge, accepted and rejected throughout history. Regardless, had it not been for these ideas, knowledge of the brain would have never become what it is today. The following timeline explores some of the revolutionary ideas and discoveries of the past that have shaped modern man's understanding of the brain.

[Go Back Through History]

[Measure Intelligence]

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As people grow old through the passage of time, there are many obvious physical changes that can be seen by an observer. Their hair turns grey or is lost, wrinkles form on their face . . . but what about our brains? What happens to our brains when we age and why does this process occur?

[Reveal the Brain's Aging]