The Brain Forest

 by Tilly C

The brain is humanity's most prized possession. Many of us don’t appreciate the intricate and precisely calculated cognitive processes that allow us to undertake such simple tasks as making a cup of tea. The human brain consists of approximately 100 billion neurones with 100 trillion connections which are constantly both being created and destroyed. Our brain never stops evolving over our lifetime, in fact, it doubles in size in the first year of a baby’s life then shrinks during adolescence as much of the “grey matter” is destroyed. This however is a small-scale view of its development; I want to take a step back and look at the brain over centuries and how it may change in future beyond my lifetime.

Our very old friend, Homo habilis from around 1.9 million years ago saw a modest expansion in brain size, especially in an area of the pre-frontal lobe named ‘Broca’s area’. Paul Broca studied neuroanatomy and identified this area as being closely associated to our language and ability to articulate the spoken word. The development of this realm along with the rest of the pre-frontal lobe was momentous in separating primates from the distinctly human ability to express complex feelings and make conscious decisions. When considering the early ‘Homo’ brain, it is logical to look at our brother from another mother, the chimpanzee. The chimp’s brain is much the same as the early human brain, both in size and capacity to consider information. At the core of every mammalian brain is a region called ‘The Limbic System’ where our survival instincts take hold, and we are driven towards primary reinforcers such as food and sex. In particular, the amygdala can activate our fight or flight response which is a vital survival instinct in allowing mammals to live in the wild. As humans began to evolve however, our brains grew 3 times in size especially in the cerebral cortex which now contains twice as many cells as chimpanzees have in the same region. This is because us humans discovered that we did not have to live in the same brutal conditions as these wild animals but could instead develop a system of rudimental democracy even if it were through basic communication.

We have since developed the pre-frontal areas of the brain into a metropolis of neural pathways for reasoning and consideration. Whereas our behaviours used to be entirely based on what will get us the resources we require, our brains have become a cognitive parliament comprised of various political parties campaigning for different decisions. Sometimes these are impulsive, but often we take into account the long-term effects of our actions which is one of the reasons why we are the most advanced organisms on the planet.

Not only can humans anticipate the longer term impacts of their behaviour, but we can also think abstractly and empathise with those around us. Anatomically modern homo sapiens exhibit a high degree of encephalisation (growth), particularly in the neocortex relative to the size of the human body. This led to expansion in our appreciation for non-survival related elements of life such as art, fashion, cookery, sport etc. These activities have always been a form of entertainment to us since cave men drew on walls with stones and children chased each other around for fun. Before digital entertainment and the online world of instant information came along, we relied on learning through experience and word of mouth. Now that we can access almost any information, we need by simply clicking a few buttons on our mobile phone I pose the question – will artificial intelligence take over the role of the brain?

To answer this multifaceted question, I need to compare AI with the human brain and its capabilities. AI is largely accurate and useful at analysing large pieces of information but significantly lacks creativity and empathy as well as general knowledge – these are valuable aspects of the human brain which make us unique. As somebody who values my creative outlet and freedom to indulge in my curiosity through reading and socialising, I believe that AI cannot replace this distinctly human attribute.

After this brief exploration of the brain over generations, there is no doubt that we have made immense advancements in complexity. My concern remains that we will lose this responsibility to learn and expand our knowledge because of the information available to us on our doorstop. We should be researching and exercising our brains regularly to form more neural pathways and avoid developing cognitive disabilities in later life. I hope that people to continue to make the of their incredible, one of a kind brains and plant many more trees in their very own brain forests.