Was doing my work review when I reflected on how I could enhance my understanding of my students. Decided to put in a bit more effort into understanding the structure of the human brain. Studies have shown that teenagers' brains are wired differently from those of adults. So I compiled these facts about the human brain from all over the place - articles, social media postings, snippets of conversations. I hope you benefit from these facts too.

• Neuron is a nerve cell. The neuron is the basic working unit of the brain, a specialised cell designed to transmit information to other cells.
• Neurodiversity refers to the range of differences in brain function. Autism is part of humanity's natural neurodiversity.
• Neuroethics is the study of ethical issues in neuroscience. The uses of brain-stimulation tools are a hot topic in neuroethics.
• Lesion is a damaged body region. Studying people with lesions in the brain helps scientists learn how its different parts function.
• Genome is the complete set of genes in an organism. At least a third of the genes in the human genome are expressed primarily in the brain.
• Fissures are grooves on the brain and allow humans to fit a large cerebral cortex into a relatively small skull.
• Psychoactive affects the mind.
• Meninges are membranes that cushion the brain. Childhood vaccines help protect the meninges from life-threatening infections.
• Dyslexia arises from a general problem in the way the brain processes auditory information - especially of speech and language - in the auditory cortex of the brain.
• When we subject babies and toddlers to multi-sensory experiences that involve engagement with their sense of sight, touch, smell and hearing, this aids in their development of their hand-eye coordination and motor skills. Their brains are also stimulated positively.
• Hemisphere refers to one half of the cerebrum. Despite popular belief, people don't tend to use one brain hemisphere more than the other.
• When we learn new things, cells in our brain called neurons fire off electrical signals. Other neurons then pick up these signals. Such firing of signals will form a memory, which is stored in the hippocampus of our brain. The more we repeat this new thing, the more our neurons repeat this pattern, thus strengthening the memory. This is how we develop automaticity in a particular area.
• When we face a threat, the amygdalae in our brain takes charge and shoots off a lightning-fast signal to the hypothalamus, which tells our heart to beat faster, our breathing to speed up and our stomach to clench. This is how we develop the fight or flight response in our bodies. The amygdala is the almond-shaped brain region involved in emotion. Amygdala damage can affect the ability to feel afraid.
• When we perform kind acts, our brains will release a hormone called oxytocin, which is associated with the formation of trust in people. Oxytocin is the hormone and neurotransmitter involved in social bonding and is popularly called "the cuddle chemical". 
• Large eyes are often associated with sweetness and innocence, creating a major adorable alert in your brain. Looking at the big peepers of certain animals and human babies can even prompt some people to produce natural chemicals called dopamine and oxytocin, which boost feelings of happiness.
• Bananas contain tryptophan, which is a type of protein that the body converts to serotonin. Serotonin is known to make one relax and improve his mood, which could be useful in warding off depression.
• The tryptophan in milk will help you feel sleepy, but you need some carbs (in the form of cookies) to get it where you want it to go in your brain.
• Since our brain builds connectivity from the back to the front as we grow older, the last region to build strong connectivity is our front lobe - a process that will only be completed in early adulthood. Frontal lobes are the brain area involved in self-control and are found right behind the forehead. This is why teenagers are unable to access their frontal lobes for instant decision making the way that adults can. Plus, they are unable to regulate their emotions are subject themselves to impulsive acts because they lack the emotion-regulating function of a strong frontal lobe connection.
• Use positive emphasis. Instead of saying, "I'm scared," try saying, "My adrenaline is up." Adrenaline sharpens our reflexes and helps us do our best.
• If one part of the brain is injured, especially the cerebral cortex (the outer layer, which processes the signals for perception and movement), often another part can be trained to take over. In other words, thinking can change the way the brain works. Scientists call this concept "neuroplasticity".
• Monks who meditated on "unconditional loving-kindness and compassion" generated powerful gamma waves - the type involved in higher brain processes like perception and consciousness. Thus, the repeated mental activity of meditation altered brain functioning. 
• When you think thoughts repeatedly, you turn on genes to make proteins that change the structure of the neurons and increase the number of connections between brain cells. In essence, neurons become better communicators. 
• Founder Barbara Arrowsmith Young was at one time a student with profound learning disabilities that made it hard for her to understand what people were saying. So she devised mental exercises to help retrain her brain and overcame her disabilities.
• Caffeine blocks the effects of adenosine, a brain chemical that makes you sleepy. The caffeine in just one cup will rev your circuits enough to reduce both the length and restorative depths of sleep.
• The glymphatic system is a system that clears waste from the brain and spinal cord. It operates mainly during sleep.
• The hormone needed to induce sleep and regulate sleep cycles, melatonin, is released 2 hours later in typical teenagers than in average adults, so teenagers don’t get sleepy until around midnight. The brain produces melatonin in response to darkness.

• Women remember verbal arguments better than men because of a higher rate of blood flow to certain parts of their brains (including those that control language) as well as higher concentrations of oestrogen.

• Scientific studies have shown that consuming chocolate releases endorphins in our brain, which triggers feelings of happiness. They are pain-relieving peptides. Produced naturally by the body, endorphins interact with the same brain receptors as opioid drugs.
• Studies have shown that it is more effective when children vary what they study in a day and keep the sessions short. Neuroscience research calls this interleaving or spaced retrieval. It helps your brain function better and aids in revision.
• Loss of smell could also be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia or autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Smell receptors at the top of our noses are connected to the base of our brains, and these disorders can shrink or disrupt the parts of our brains that process smell. Smell dysfunction is also the most common early symptom reported by Parkinson's patients - even before they begin to experience motor-related symptoms.
• People who regularly use two or more languages may have a lower risk of the cognitive decline associated with ageing. Speaking and switching between two languages on a regular basis - and having done so throughout life - enhances cognitive reserve and delays the appearance of cognitive decline and dementia.
• The more parts of the brain you involve in creating your password the more likely you are to recall it. To retain a passphrase, first focus on it and tell your brain that it’s important, which primes it to remember. Then sing or say the password out loud (when alone!) a few times and create a visual image of it. Then repeat it a few times over the next few days which helps move it from short-term memory to the part dedicated to longer-term recall.