The brain is the processor that enables our perception of the world.
Every moment your mind is processing data.
Every day, at every moment, we think whether or not it is important to update our internal map of reality.
And it is the largest part of the brain that does most of this work.
Although each part of the brain has its own specific function, they all work together.
The brain can be divided into three basic units: forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain.
Let’s start at the bottom of the brain and work our way to the top.
It consists of the upper part of the spinal cord, brain stem and cerebellum.
The hindbrain is responsible for controlling your body’s vital functions, such as breathing and heart rate.
It is also responsible for maintaining posture and balance.
The forebrain consists of the cerebrum, which is the largest part of the brain.
It is responsible for giving and receiving meaning to information from your sense organs, such as when you read, think, learn, speak, feel and move.
What is the largest part of the brain?
It’s the cerebrum – one of the three parts that make up the most powerful organ in your body.
When you see a picture of the brain, you will most likely notice the cerebrum.
Since it is the largest part of the brain, it makes up 80% of the total volume of the brain.
It is located at the highest part of the organ and is also the most advanced device in the known universe, making it the smartest part of your superbrain.
The cerebrum, being the largest part of your brain, is the source of all your intellectual activities, such as your memories, your imagination, your thought processes, your ability to recognize people and things, your creativity, and so on.
And as the largest part of the human brain, the cerebrum is home to many of the 86 billion neurons found in the gray matter of our brain.
Known to many as the “seat of consciousness,” it’s where your perception, memory, and sensory data come together to make sense of everything.
The largest part of the brain mainly consists of nervous tissue: gray and white matter.
Gray matter is located in the cerebral cortex and is responsible for combining information in the cerebrum.
White matter, on the other hand, is found in the surrounding regions of the cerebrum and is responsible for transmitting nerve signals between brain regions and the spinal cord.
The cerebrum also consists of other important tissues: vascular and fibrous connective tissue.
Fibrous connective tissues form the meninges that surround the cerebrum, protecting it from infections and mechanical damage.
The outer layer of the largest part of the human brain is the cortex, which means ‘bark’ in Latin.
It makes up about two-thirds of the total mass of the brain, covering most of its structures including the cerebellum.
Two to four millimeters thick, it is an extremely important layer of your brain.
It consists of gray matter, which contains 10% of all neurons in your brain.
(It looks gray because the nerves in this area lack the insulation that makes other parts of the brain appear white.)
The cortex consists of folded ridges that create fissures, all of which increase the surface area of the brain.
This increases the amount of gray matter as well as the amount of information being processed.
Sensory and motor data are processed in the cortex to enable our sense of consciousness.
And with over 10 billion nerve cells, the peaks and valleys of the cerebral cortex are the processing power of the largest part of the human brain—the cerebrum.
As the largest part of the human brain, the cerebrum has numerous responsibilities:
Structurally, this largest part of the brain is divided into two halves (better known as hemispheres).
Each hemisphere is further divided into lobes where each part plays its own unique role in aiding the function of the largest part of the brain.
There are four lobes in total: frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal lobes.
1. Frontal lobe
Responsible for: movement and speech
Being the largest of the four lobes, the frontal lobe is located at the front of the brain.
It is the center of your personality, planning and decision-making.
In addition to attention, impulse control and problem solving, it deals with memory, motor skills and speech.
Responsible for: sensation, touch
Located just behind the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe helps interpret sensory information from other parts of the brain.
This is where the somatosensory cortex is located, which processes touch and bodily sensations.
Responsible for: visual processing
This is your visual processing center.
Located in the back of the brain, the occipital lobe is involved in reading, color recognition, and other visual information from the retina.
Your visual memory is also processed here.
Responsible for: hearing, memory
The temporal lobe controls visual and verbal memory, as well as the interpretation of reactions and emotions.
It enables you to recognize faces, process language and speech.
It is home to limbic system structures such as the amygdala and hippocampus.
As the largest part of your brain, the cerebrum isn’t the only part that keeps your brain working.
It works together with the cerebellum and brainstem to ensure your brain functions optimally.
It processes data every moment to make sense of your world.
And at every moment we receive information through our senses.
Much of this information is processed in the largest part of your brain, the cerebrum.
Exercising and training the largest part of your brain (cerebrum) and its counterparts (cerebellum and brainstem) is a big responsibility.
And sometimes it’s as simple as taking the next step on your journey.