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Asked by alicekelly to Daniela, Hannah, Ian, Jono, Mark on 21 Jun 2013.
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Ian Wilson answered on 21 Jun 2013:
Hi Alice,
Interesting question – I like it!
The brain is split into different areas, each of which is responsible for controlling different things. The frontal lobe deals with decision making and problem solving. That’s why people who really badly hit the front of their head can have difficulty making decisions – they’ve damaged the part of their brain needed to choose between things.
There are 2 networks within the frontal lobe that pass the electrical signals round the brain that allow us to make decisions:
The ‘ventromedial prefrontal cortex’ lets you weigh up the risks and the benefits of making a decision. So that part lets you think “Hmmm should I buy that cookie? It looks tasty. But it’s expensive. And I’m on a diet. But it’ll make me feel better” etc.
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex works to keep your attention focused on the important part of a decision. So you may be getting preoccupied with the cookie and this part of your brain will say “That’s enough. I have to move on to get all of the shopping before Tesco closes”. It keeps you from getting distracted from the little things.
Together, these parts of the brain work to help us make decisions both big and small. Hope that answers your question.
Cheers,
Ian
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Mark Hodson answered on 22 Jun 2013:
Hi alicekelly,
another top biology question. Good answer from Ian, I’m learning lots. Hope you are as well.
As an aside, whilst all animals seem to have nerve cells responsible for controlling things like movement not all animals have brains. For example star fish don’t have brains.
cheers
m
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Hannah Brotherton answered on 23 Jun 2013:
Hi alicekelly,
As a brain scientist, this is one of the questions we think about in university.Each decision that we make is made through free will. This is something that is so unique about us humans. Free will, decisions and actions are all involved with the front part of the brain, which is where our personalities are formed.
So the decision we make are influenced by the person we are, which is influenced by the world. But sometimes the front part of our brain can change in accidents, influencing what decisions we would usually make.
in the 1900s a guy called phineas gage was a sweet, kind man, who made decisions wisely. But one day a pole was wedged into his brain, after an explosive went off. This pole went through the front part of his brain which changed his personality completely. He became an aggressive man, who gambled and made very silly decisions. This showed science that the front part of our brain and our personalities is involved in our decisions.
But recently, scientists have shown that the conscious decisions we make might not be free will at all. Scientists were able to predict if we would use our left or right hand to hit a button before the person consciously decided. they could predict by the slight movements our body unconsciously made. So the brain unconsciously decided before us, then 7 seconds later, we would get the same thought and do the action.
This is a huge finding, because it shows us that our brain itself decides for us, when we thought that we were deciding every action we did ourselves.
So is there such a thing called free will and do we control our brain, or does it control us?
we still don’t know if our brain has more influence over us than we think. There is so much still not known about the brain, and as a brain scientists, these are the types of questions that we try to answer and hopefully will find answer in years to come.
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Jono Bone answered on 23 Jun 2013:
Hey Alice,
Looks like its mainly been covered so I’m going to tell you a story about how a some of this was worked out. Its a good story!
In 1848, Phineas Gage worked for a Railroad Company laying tracks tracks. Gage used explosives in his job but one day it went off early, sending a rod of iron,through his skull and brain, and out the top of his head. Gage regained consciousness within a few minutes. Amazingly, he not only survived the blast, but he was able to talk and to walk!
Although Gage survived the physical injuries from the blast, he was a changed man. He appeared to be just as intelligent as before the accident but now rude to people, swore a lot and did not have very good social skills.
At the time it was thought that the brain just controlled language. Phineus’ accident taught doctors at the time that the brain was also important in processing emotions, decision making and social behavior.
I hope you like that story, I think its a good one.
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