THE brain is a significant gift of God. It is perhaps the most mysterious organ of the human body. But out of this mystery arises an even more mysterious entity, the mind.
The 20th century witnessed many great achievements by neuro-physiologists and psychologists in describing the functioning of the brain and mind respectively.
These findings seem to point that the hitherto unbridgeable gap between the physical and mental world of brain and mind is slowly being brought closer together. They have also given rise to heated debates on the ultimate question: is mind and brain one, or are they distinctively separate?
Undoubtedly, the brain with its mind or faculty of reason places man well above the rest of God’s creatures.
Verses 30-33 of Surah al-Baqarah or Chapter 2 describe the conversation between God and His angels at the time of human creation:
“Behold, thy Lord says to the angels: ‘I will create a vice-gerent on earth’. The angels say: ‘Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst we celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?
“God replied: ‘I know what ye know not.’ And He taught Adam the nature of all things; then He placed them before the angels and said: ‘Tell Me the nature of these if ye are right.
“They said: “Glory to Thee, of knowledge. We have none save what Thou hast taught us: in truth it is Thou who art perfect in knowledge and wisdom.
“God said: ‘O Adam! Tell them their natures’. When Adam had told them, God said: ‘Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and I know what ye reveal and what ye conceal’?”
Adam’s ability to learn, understand and remember positions him as a superior being, despite being the latest addition to God’s creations.
Animals, too, think and feel. This was initially emphasised by the writings of early neuroscientists such as Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564 C.E.), a native of Brussels.
In his landmark publication On the Workings of the Human Body, Vesalius indicated that the cavities of the human brain were not different from those of other mammals that obviously did not have similar reasoning powers.
He wrote: “All our contemporaries, so far as I can understand them, deny to apes, dogs, horses, sheep, cattle, and other animals the main powers of the Reigning Soul – not to speak of other powers _ and attribute to man alone the faculty of reasoning; and ascribe this faculty in equal degree to all men.
“And yet we clearly see in dissecting that men do not excel those animals by possessing any special cavity in the brain. Not only is the number of ventricles the same, but also all other things in the brain are similar, except only in size and in complete consonance of the parts for virtue.”
Despite this anatomical finding, in many ways the brainpower of animals is rather limited. But man may, if he wishes, make use of his brain to the maximum capacity.
The human brain is composed of approximately 100 billion nerve cells, all performing important functions aimed at maintaining proper balance or homeostasis of the body.
Nerve cells or neurons communicate with one another by sending electrical signals along the neuronal body composed of axons and dendrites. Trillions of nerve junctions or synapses link these neurons together.
Chemicals in the synapses known as neurotransmitters are the communication tools that help bridge the neurons.
Currently more than 50 different types of neurotransmitters have been identified, including acetylcholine, noradrenalin, dopamine and serotonin.
Even though small and weighing only approximately 1.4 kg, the surface of the brain is convoluted to enhance the size of the effective area.
This large space is necessary for efficient handling of a huge amount of information received by the brain every second, either from inside or outside the body.
Each site on the brain surface is dedicated to receiving and processing specific information. Thus, the sites for visual and auditory input are totally separate. Nevertheless, they communicate extensively with one another via connecting neurons.
The brain’s ability to process information is unsurpassed by any other machines, not even by the best computers of the day.
In fact, despite the success of computer builders to simulate brain processing strategies such as the simultaneous parallel and distributed processing, computers are unable to supersede the brain in terms of efficiency and versatility.
The computer may be faster, but the brain is much more insightful and prudent.
Thus it is not surprising to find that the brain can efficiently perform numerous complex tasks like thinking, memorising, counting, listening, speaking, planning, making decisions and dealing with emotions.
It is almost impossible to build a computer that can do all this in one system. Actually when compared to the brain, the computers that are available today are by and large, rudimentary and rigid.
Research has also shown that the brain is the centre of control of most of the internal workings of the human body.
For example, the lower region of the brain known as the medulla oblongata controls the beating of the heart, as well as the rhythmic movement of respiration.
Hormonal releases are also triggered or determined by the brain. These hormones may be involved in growth, metabolism, sexual maturity and mood status.
The ability of the brain to control the functioning of the various organs and systems of the body is made possible via a precise feedback mechanism.
As a consequence of being the nerve centre of the body, injury to the brain will result in serious handicap to the individual. Consequently, brain non-function is akin to death – brain death.
As stated previously, one of the marvels of the brain is the evolvement of the mind or aql.
The root word aql does not occur in the noun form at all in the Quran. The significance of this word only appearing in the verb form suggests that it has a dynamic application.
In the verses of the Quran, the derivatives of the word aql are used to represent activities that are performed, or need to be performed, or activities not performed despite their indispensability.
Also in the Quran, activities pertaining to the mind are always referred to in a positive sense. There is no suggestion whatsoever that using the mind would lead to undesirable consequences.
The capability of the brain and mind is almost limitless. Man is encouraged to search and research to discover the mysteries of God’s creations.
Muslims especially must not let this command go unheeded. Our hearts bleed to learn there is an insufficient number of Bumiputera to fill the available places in public universities this coming session.
Evidently, despite the generosity of God’s bequest of a priceless and versatile brain and mind to every individual, there are Muslims who choose not to make full use of these gifts.