What is the Human Brain Capable of?

Hamori, Jozsef

József Hámori, biologist and Vice-President of HAS, lectured about the workings of the human brain, and the characteristics of the neuron networks made of nerve cells and their synapses. The two major characteristics that differentiate human beings from animals is the fact that humans retain the neural capacity of learning through their adult lives, and the special asymmetry of the brain. Ontogenesis is a genetically controlled process, during which, after the more rigorous early stages, the human brain develops as a result of the joint effects of the open genetic program and a long process of environmental integration. The dominant right-handedness, which is probably the result of a mutation linked to some sort of environmental adoption, is the first stage in the development of the brain asymmetry, characteristic of humans. It is the unity of the diverse functions of the two cerebral hemispheres that makes the human brain one of the greatest miracles of the Universe.

About the lecturer