The Prefrontal Cortex - An Introduction to What Makes Us Human

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Besides being relatively hairless apes, there are some things about humans that make us special among animals. In the past we have noted things like, “We have big brains and we use tools,” or “We contemplate the future and our own mortality,” or “We use a truly complex language both verbal and written to communicate complex ideas.” These are things we have and do, but what is it about our brains that makes that possible. More and more we are identifying crucial hubs or nodes within our brain that specialize in various tasks, but none of these work alone. I am going to start by discussing that big blob of gooey mush on the front of our brains called the prefrontal cortex, and in subsequent episodes, I will discuss how these regions function in tandem with deeper structures within the brain to create what we think of when we say “human.”

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