Overview of the brain
The human brain is 2% of our bodyweight, about $1200 \space cm^3$ and consumes about $20$ watts.
Human brains are large, but by far not the largest (elephants, whales, ...)
The cells (neurons) that make up brains are very similar between species. The number of neurons correlates with intelligence.
One cubic millimeter of cerebral cortex contains roughly 50,000 neurons, each of which establishes approximately 6,000 synapses with neighboring cells.
Navigating the CNS
• Anterior: Toward the front or front-end
• Posterior: Toward the back or back-end
• Inferior: Toward the bottom of the body, or below
• Superior: Toward the top of the head/body, or above
• Medial: Toward the middle/midline
• Lateral: Away from the middle/midline, toward the side
• Rostral: Toward the nose
• Caudal: Toward the tail/rear
• Proximal: Near the trunk or center
• Distal: Away from the center
• Dorsal:Toward the back
• Ventral: Toward the belly
• Ipsilateral: On the same side
• Contralateral: On the opposite side
• Bilateral: On both sides
• Unilateral: On one side
