El cerebro

It is a gelatinous mass the size of a bunch of grapes and has the consistency of flan; it is composed of eighty percent water and the rest, by proteins and fats, fifty percent; and appears upholstered by a folded sheet of cloth, about three millimeters thick, which was described more than 3,500 years ago in an Egyptian papyrus as "copper melting in a crucible" and that if we spread it out it would occupy an area of ??1,500 square centimeters. We are talking about the human brain, the zenith of evolution, the hardware of consciousness, the most perfect machine in the universe, a biological ingenuity "capable of adapting and responding to unknown situations, responsible for the creation of the most sublime and delicate things: the music, love, painting and poetry", says José Ramón Alonso, professor of Cellular Biology at the University of Salamanca. The more than 86 million neurons that live tightly packed inside, each one with between 5,000 and 15,000 connections, connected to each other through a million and a half fine organic cables, in collaboration with as many glial cells, also assume the fight for the survival and conservation of the species; the management of vital functions, such as the regulation of temperature, breathing and sleep, or the control of movements and sexual appetite. But how has the brain evolved to be what it is? How does it work? How does everything wonderful that makes us human fit into it? How does consciousness arise? And the language? Why do we dream? What do our brains do to build reality? Where is the intelligence? Does the mind have superpowers? What does creativity depend on? Why does the brain get sick? Is it capable of self-repair? Will artificial intelligence surpass the capabilities of the human mind?