April 25, 2008
Theme: Wrinkles

The awesome Human Brain!
Stabilo Point 88 pens and Tombow Abt brush markers.

The Human brain is an amazing structure.  Capable of conducting billions of processes per second, controlling every process in the human body and all in a package weighing about three pounds.  All of this is possible because the brain is a wrinkled mass.  If it were not for the wrinkles, calles sulci and Gyri, the brain would have to be twice the size it is.  The raised portions, called convolutions, contain the active cells that make the brain work.  The sulci and gyri allow the brain to be fit into the small size of the skull.

The story has always been that the more you learn, the deeper and more plentiful the wrinkles.  This is not actually the truth.  The convolutions of the brain do not change extensively over the years.  However, what actually happens is the individual nerve cells form connections between each other.  These connections will be modified over time.  In some locations, the number of connections will be increased, in others the number will be reduced.  In any event, the brain has wrinkles, and these wrinkles do allow for more surface area, and this increased surface area leads to a greater number of brain cells and their connections.

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