Sublime

We’ve been led to believe that the human brain is an all-purpose, all-powerful thinking machine. We’re deluged with reports of discoveries about the brain’s astounding abilities, its lightning quickness and its protean plasticity; we’re told that the brain is a fathomless wonder, “the most complex structure in the universe.” But when we clear away

Later research by Martin Teicher at McLean Hospital showed that different forms of abuse have different impacts on various brain areas at different stages of development.

The human neocortex, the outermost layer of the brain, is a thin, essentially two-dimensional structure with a thickness of about 2.5 millimeters (about a tenth of an inch). In rodents, it is about the size of a postage stamp and is smooth. An evolutionary innovation in primates is that it became intricately folded over the top of the rest of the

This basic and lower-functioning brain served to keep us safe thousands of years ago in a primitive world of relentless threats like starvation, temperature extremes, warring tribes and saber-toothed tigers. It functions to do one main thing: maintain a steady state while warning us against dangers so we survive and propagate our species.