Talking in the Brain
Question: How does one part of the brain talk to another part?
Answer: Simply put, parts of the brain use chemical and electrical signals to talk to each other.
First, keep in mind that there are lots of pieces in the brain. An adult human brain contains about 100 billion cells called neurons, which are generally thought of as the smallest “thinking” pieces, but it takes tons of them to think much. Also, the brain includes 10 times as many supporting cells, which probably play some role in all of the brain talk, too.
Think of a basic neuron like a popsicle that carries information from its candy end and down the stick. That information travels in the form of an electrical wave. It’s not exactly like information traveling along a wire from a light switch to a light bulb, but that’s close enough. When the electrical wave reaches the end of the neuron-popsicle’s stick, chemical’s get released that flow to the next neuron. If enough chemicals hit another neuron, an electrical signal starts flowing down it.
In some cases, the electrical signals can even flow from one neuron to another.
So the talk in the brain comes in various forms.