How the Brain Works

These brief videos provide an introductory appreciation of how we learn skills and information, move, think, feel, speak and remember. They are brought to you by the UCLA Brain Research Institute and by Bruce H. Dobkin, MD(Link is external) (Link opens in new window), who directs the neurorehabilitation program in the Department of Neurology at UCLA(Link is external) (Link opens in new window). The videos especially aim to reach out to students in grade school to stir their interest, and to people with disabilities in walking, using an affected upper extremity, and loss of memory from neurological diseases such as stroke, brain trauma, tumors, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Parkinsons, and Alzheimers disease.

Part 1: General organization of a real human brain.

Part 2: The pathology of brain injuries and diseases. Rat versus human brain complexity. How do we reach for a ball? How do we walk?

Part 3: How does practice enable us to learn and retain skills and information?

Part 4: How can we drive the nervous system to adapt in ways that help restore lost skills after injury from disease? Can we reorganize the brains connections?

Part 1

Part 2