Bulging Brains

HORRIBLE SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED By TONY DE SAULLES Scientist'S brain. N»3 t ’Ubh't.bEhOSd. J3 _______________ O BULGING BRAINS Hick Arnold Illustrated by Tony De Saulles SCHOLASTIC INC. New York Toronto London Auckland Sydney Mexico City New Delhi Hong Kong Inside the bulging brain Still want to be a brain surgeon? Excellent. Now that you’ve found out a bit about what the bulging brain does, you’re ready to check out how it works ... Bulging fact file UAME: The brain rl BASIC FACTS: The brain Is made up of three main parts: •3 h F0K8RAJN it $ ' >1 $ £ach area Is made up of smaller parts with different Jobs. (For more details see page 32-35.) I DISGUSTING DETAILS: The brain needs energy V from the sugar and oxygen carried In the blood. i UINPBRAW RED STUFF . .lirwoi,M (see BELoW) : Ml PB RAIN v i rum me sugar anu uxyyen « r£ So It sucks In about one pint (750 ml) of the red stuff K C™ — M every minute. All this hotI blood biooo gives out oui lots iuis of ui heat neai _ tip - that's why your brain Is the (i hottest part of your body. 10 Bet you never knew! Your brain weighs less than 2.8 pounds (1.3 kg) - that's a little less than the weight of a large box of sugar or the weight of all the germs swarming in your guts. In fact, the brain is only one-fiftieth the weight of a grown-up man, and it's far lighter than your guts, your blood, your skin, or your bones. Have you got a bulging brain? So just how smart is your brain? Well, if you’re going to be a brain surgeon you’ll need to know all the answers to this brain-teasing quiz: 1. What happens if half your brain is damaged? a) It doesn't half hurt, ha-ha. No, seriously, you can’t remember anything. SORRY, WHAT WAS THE QUESTION AGAN? b) You die. No one could survive such a terrible injury. c) You can live normally although you have to relearn vital skills such as talking. 2. What happens if someone cuts your brain in two? a) Your brain becomes twice as smart. b) Your brain functions normally but you may find yourself doing your science homework twice. wry yw YOU DONE IT TWICE? j pont MISS . . 1 DON’T KNOW MISS 11 c) Each side of your brain behaves like a separate person. 3. Imagine you were born without 97 percent of your cortex (cor-tex) - that's the wrinkly part of your brain at the top where you do your thinking. You’re left with a tiny slice of brain in this area. What would happen to you? a) You’d be left with the brains of a half-witted stick insect. b) You'd be as brainy as anyone else ... but only for five minutes a day. The rest of the time you’d blunder around like a zombie in a horror movie. c) Your brain would work normally and you could be as brainy as your science teacher. (Yes, teachers are believed to be intelligent.) 4. What would you feel if someone stuck a finger into your brain and wiggled it around? a) Unbearable agony - the worst pain in the world. b) You'd feel hot and cold shivers all over your body. c) Nothing, because the brain cannot feel touch. 5. How much energy does your brain use in a science test? a) Such a small amount that it can’t be measured (especially if you don't know the answers). b) Enough to light up the classroom. No wonder the test makes you light-headed, ha-ha. 12 6. Why do you feel tired after the test? a) All that mental effort strains the brain. b) During the test your brain drew extra energy in the form of sugar in your blood. After the test your body feels tired because it lacks this vital blood sugar. c) You were so tense your muscles bunched up and used up energy. And your muscles feel tired - not your brain. 7. How much of your brain is water? a) About 5 percent b) 3