A George Formbyesque ditty about the structure and function of the brain
lyrics
Nobody Can Tell You ‘ow The Brain Works
Nobody can tell you how the brain works,
Even though it has been studied many years,
It's the complicatedest thing in universe,
Drives many neuroscientists to tears.
It's hardly that surprising when you do the theorising,
There's a hundred billion neurones in the brain,
A hundred trillion odd connections and it's tricky to detect them,
It's enough to drive a scientist insane.
Nobody can tell you how the brain works,
Even though it has been studied many ways,
With a PET scan we look for gamma ray bursts,
And with MRI's we look for the x-rays.
Then we question subjects later, to get qualitative data,
On experiences that correlate then we,
Will do a number of dissections, cut it up in all directions,
Name the bits and link them to pathology,
Nobody can tell you how the brain works,
But there's things we can be certainish we know,
It's connected through the spinal cord to all your nerves,
And that's a handy place to start so off we go
The Medulla oblongata, will regulate your heart and,,
Keeps you breathing which is useful I should say,
And just above's the cerebellum which I always like to tell 'em,
Keeps you moving and your balance everyday.
Then the other bits we group as the cerebrum,
We divide it up in sections known as lobes,
At the back the occipital's the region,
Controlling sight and recognising things we know,
The parietal's above it, it's a useful bit, I love it,
Coordinates your movements with your senses,
On the sides you have the temporals, for auditory essentials,
Like music, noises, sounds and words and tenses.
Then the frontal lobe is good for strategising,
It's the biggest and most human bit for sure,
If you're smart then it's the bit that does the driving,
But for some the limbic system drives them more.
Whether hungry, hot or amorous, we blame the hypothalumus,
The hippocampus helps us form our memories.
If we act not with volition, if we're programmed through conditioning,
These bits with the amygdala are key.
So nobody can tell you how the brain works,
And if your waiting you'll be waiting rather long,
And even though I've tried, it's been oversimplified,
And very soon they’ll tell me that I’m wrong
