Page 3 - Improving Control Centre (Executive Function) Skills: A Strength Based Approach
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How the Brain Develops: Part 2








            Neurons: the amazing brain cell:






            Our brain is made up of lots of



            cells called neurons.







             Neurons are shaped a bit like a tree,



             with a main trunk (the axon)




             and branches (called dendrites).









              Neural Firing: the brain’s postal system







                                                                                                Whenever we think, do or



                                                                                                say anything, neurons




                                                                                                pass information to each



                                                                                                other through an




                                                                                                electrical signal.







              It’s a bit like a letter in the post – information starts in one




              place and travels to another.







             When a neuron fires an electrical signal, it travels down




             the trunk of the neuron and releases special brain



             chemicals called ‘neurotransmitters’.








             These brain chemicals and the ‘branches’ of the neuron



             help the signal to travel across a gap (called the synapse)




             to the next neuron.



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