DIVISION OF LABOR IN THE BRAIN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10066, 6 February 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

DIVISION OF LABOR IN THE BRAIN.

(My llr Andrew W'M ~„.) I

All points and problems , ,U;\ V^ the brain ami its work are of inti-t-i>>t ti those who devote so much of 11,,-,,- ' ' lime to the consideration „f ~„„,,,' which appeal to Ihe intelligent„„„'£ woman anxious to understand ,| l( , „„„„„ in which Ihe body is govern,,l „ n( | trolled, dm- of .he lentil,,,, „ hllil || r ft sight of in connection with bra in „■,',,.;. , the division of labor which < lnu;ielni M ,, the operations of the nervous s\,s|c m , '| l|i( manciple is reliedcd ihrmiglioiii U.U life al large. In the lower auinrd ,J& thc'saine mass ol' protoplasm,,,' livi,,,. „,„. ter discharges all the luiictions ~f |j to | ( eats, digests, moves, and rcpi-niliices j|, self in the absence of any definite ,„,„, or parts As we advance in U,,- s.alc, wo find organs develo]H.-il and set apart for the performance of definite duties. 'p] |( highest animals are those in which *uch specialisation of duties is most. peift\||i. represented. It is Ihe caw of ||i,. I IO J hold with one servant doing all <l.iinoti o duties, representing the lower lnnn |(m ) thai of the house with .many menial..) m \ doing his or her own duty, iv,.,-,,,,,,,,),,,, the higher organism. Mow, within the confines uf |/„, n ,, rvm system, ia,s in oilier systems ( ,f t|„, i )(H | ( . wo lln<l tin- devision of lulmr ti|-iiici|i7o typically developed. In (lie Hrrt. ~|[l TO we find a. doable nervous svtilom. hi nil backboned, animals. There 'is, [\n\, (j 10 brain, spinal curd, ami tin- nerves wliioli issue from these centres ; ami there is, second, a distinct, though i'i>iiiiit|<i<] «m! teni, known, as the "sympathetic," Tim latter lies in the shape of a 'iutilile chain of nerve-centres lying in from of tlio hut mil enclosed within tin- skull un backbone as is the ease with lln- brain system itself. If the inquiry lie ituuji why two distinct systems should [\ m \, provided, the reply ninsl include llu, ,l| v j si on of labor idea. A. little cniisidi'l'atiot will show forth the truth of this ttnai Many act ions wo perforin, lho.se e,s|iMi!ill; which maintain ns in life, m,, n^iiljlci not by us, lint lor us. For example,™ we swallow food, its digestion, involvin; ■many and complex processes, is enulriva; and' controlled apart. allngcllici- I'rum n will and consciousness. \\'e have mil I trouble ourselves regarding the Jiv«i work or the sweetbread's' duties, or | supervise the stomach's fuii.cl.ious, 'll, heart, and breathing are similarly ra trolled outside our will or attention a so a. very lunge part of our life /i' W iA aside from the work and conli,,/ M brain itself. Such, regulation is fiu^, on by the sympathetic 'system. It iliriili the labor of control, and ..els five II brain system for tJ>o regulation uf tli more pressing questions of I In- ,|ay un the hour. liul the division of labor is i..present ■cd equally in the work of the bruin il self. To start- with, the spinal .mil,*! is the great main line of the iicivoiw tiv teni, i, mil a mere nervous cable plati'ii; brain and body in eoniminiicalioii. On the contrary, it contains many umi centres, composed of nerve cells, in therefore adapted In exercise , liol, A very considerable amount of bodily »U|M iiiteiidenee over movement, for example,il exercised by the spinal cord, unit em other actions as well. The centres in Hit cord are to be viewed as deputies of ill brain In this sense, ami thus divide ml ' lessen the labor of bodily control inn far as the brain, itself is Men we come, to Ihe brain in turn, then* . principle is found to be adequately riftf ' senlod. For the organ of niind'i tot , one centre, but many, and 1 huso lit ol very different value and iinporlaiiDi-iitH' ' spe'et of the duties they perforin. Era in the highest section 'of the liniiii-tkt I cerebrum, or great brain -the division il labor is fully recognisable, lor each c«ilt( has its own work to perform in I lie reflation of our acts. ' One of the most distinctive I'eiiliii'fd ol life is the acquirement of ~|, maehiiit-liki or automatic, power of performing certain ' duties. This power we popularly typify by the word "habit." Duties we'have H [ first to exercise our TOlelleelual contra | to be able lo perform, are ulliiniili-h/ (lit , charged without any reference to (iiirtnip' ; or consciousness, 'indeed, when thoii tellccl comes to interfere with the a* , malic, performance of such, acts, llwv i« apt lo In; less perfectly execute.) '* when the machine-like activity el W is permitted (o have. il« sway.' Take ll< cases of reading, writing, and sjiollinj! at first we have to acquire lliwe'g"* through the exercise of close inteW'' attention ; later on they are aiitunutiw' performed. We. do not, after the cl»W«* stag-i of education, require to bctliink M '' selves over the shape of letters, IJiosotraut of syllables, or the formation uf word* by act of the pen. Clearly what w» al first an intellectual act has 'ix-coiiu- «I 1""' ly lnechaiiic'il one. Also, in exorcising the oilier "It," in doing it sum, we. ,-im'vo at n. t-orree* solution without haying to. Iln'nk cut I"' rationale of the- operation, as we <li«l *" taught arithmetic at school. The savin to the intellectual centres which deal ml l questions and affairs of every moment/ mwt lie enormous in consequence of this divim* of labor. The, centres in question arc It" free to exercise judgments ami hi Oil?',! 1 in the highest operations which give r '" and origin to oar conscious life. In the braiii-slruclure we a.•liiall.V, In* l .■enlrcs which discharge these atlloliinW duties and play the part of private H«' c ' tarics to the head of the menial linn. I I'™" when .we come lo higher lirain-nperatw* a like principle prevails. Centres nro'K 1 apart for governing muscles; ollicrti «j eeivc messages from organs of sense, W» others, again, sitting, in", the juil^" oll ' seat, report' upon information iwi,''' 11 : Thus the principle seen all Jlinuigli ""i" l ' life and dcvelopmciil. culminates in i-esl"? of its complexity in tho work of and nerve.