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The Modular System in the Brain
Each part of the human brain has its own particular function. One converts
sounds into speech, one combines colors in the form of an image, one reg-
isters smell, and yet another recalls a familiar face or distinguishes fish from
fruit. Yet the functions of these components are not fixed, and all function
interdependently.
The first research into the brain’s being divided into two separate hemi-
spheres was performed by the psychologist Roger Sperry, and won him the
Nobel Prize. Sperry showed that the brain was a modular system, not “a
1
homogeneous black box.” The importance of the modular system comes
from the fact that it can be assembled and dismantled, can change its func-
tion according to need, and can be shaped according to the desire of the
user. In addition, materials designed for a modular system are exceedingly
flexible in application and development. The brain does not have a fixed
structure, but alters according to the conditions and is open to develop-
ment—a feature that astonishes scientists.
1- Rita Carter, Mapping the Mind, University of California Press, February 1999, p. 43.
Because of the division of labor between the two halves of the brain, the transfer of infor-
mation from one side to the other is of the highest importance. The mutual flow of data be-
tween the two halves in ensured by means of a bridge, the corpus callosum, consisting of
some 80 million axons. Were that connection not established, then disorder would ensue
inside the brain. Not only must the transfer take place, it also must be done with very sen-
sitive timing, requiring simultaneity accurate to 1/60,000 of a second. For example, were
there no such simultaneity in the sense of sight, then the image seen by one eye would be
incompatible with that seen by the other, and double vision would ensue. Were there no si-
multaneity in our sense of hearing, then all we hear would be meaningless echoes.

Smell
Touch
Movement
Hearing Sleep
Sight

Speech

Balance
Taste

Brain
stem
Spinal cord Pineal gland