Informative Speech: Understanding The Brain

Understanding the Brain

Topic: Understanding the Brain

Specific Purpose: After listening to my speech, my audience will know how our view of the brain has transformed and the possible results of these advances.

Central Idea: Advances in neuroscience have changed our understanding of the brain over time and created endless possibilities for the future.

Introduction

Please take a minute to think about what your brain in doing right now. How do we even begin to contemplate our own thoughts? Thinking about the brain creates a paradox. We need to use our brain to think about our brain. My name isToday, I want to talk about our journey throughout time toward understanding the human brain. I have personally
The history of our journey in understanding the human brain is as long as human history itself.
A. Ancient history shows several misconceptions of the function of the brain.
1. The first written account of brain anatomy came from ancient Egypt. “Even with the emphasis on head injuries described in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, the ancient Egyptians still believed that it was the heart, not the brain, that was the seat of intellect and sensation,” ("Ancient Egypt and Neuroscience", 2014).
2. “The great Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle believed that our consciousness, imagination and memory was rooted in the human heart,” (Hunter, 2009)
B. Evidence from the ancient times shows that there was at least some understanding of the brain.
1. People “practiced trepanation — a surgical procedure that involves removing a section of the cranial vault using a hand drill or a scraping tool — more than 1,000 years ago to treat a variety of ailments, from head injuries to heartsickness,” ("Ancient Cranial Surgery", 2013).
2. An ancient Egyptian text, “The Edwin Smith Papyrus, dating back to 1700 BC, is the earliest known medical text in history. The papyrus discusses the brain, the meninges, the spinal cord and cerebrospinal fluid,” (Hunter,
“In the past decade scientists have learned to read the brain’s functioning to the point where they can now read (and recreate) thoughts and even dreams and imaginings directly from the brain; use the brain to directly control computers, and anything computers can control—including prosthetics (and even have these prosthetics send sensations back to the brain); implant and remove simple memories in the brain; create primitive versions of artificial brain structures; and also unravel at least some of the mysteries of mental illness and disease,” ("#54. A Summary of 'The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind ' by Michio Kaku", 2014). (Lastly, let’s explore the possibilities of these advances.)

III. All the mysteries of the brain have not been uncovered but scientists are working toward uncovering more knowledge and potential uses.
A. Potential uses for the developing knowledge of the brain include better medical treatment and diagnosis, artificial intelligence, social shifts and more.
1. For example, “It is no longer a fantasy to think of drugs that could improve memory, intelligence, or some other mental ability, Such drugs are called nootropics,” (Sweeney, 2009, p. 306).
2. “ The past few years have seen starling advances in treatment of paralysis and Alzheimer 's, memory modification, mind-machine interfaces and prosthetic replacements for damaged eyes and ears. As the pace of discovery quickens changes of the coming decades