Difference Between Brain and Mind (original) (raw)
Last Updated : 2 Jun, 2023
Difference Between Brain and Mind: The brain and mind are two very different concepts; the brain is a physical body part, while the mind is an intangible concept. These both are essential for a human being to function properly, the brain is responsible for physical functions done by our senses and the mind is responsible for abstract thinking and emotions. People live their life inside their minds.
In simple words, the brain is the hardware of our body and the mind is the software inside the brain. The brain is an organ inside the skull that controls voluntary and involuntary actions. It sends signals to every other organ of the body to function properly. Every emotion is created by different parts of our brain. Every memory is stored inside the brain. The mind is the house of all human feelings and memories. The mind is an intangible entity that is associated with the brain and is responsible for things like consciousness and emotions. The mind is not a physical organ rather it is a product of the brain’s workings.
Before learning the difference between mind and brain, one must know about their meaning and concepts that are discussed as follows:
What is Brain?
The brain is the main organ of human body which is located inside the skull. All the functions of human body are controlled by the brain. It is the main part of our central nervous system. It receives all the information through our sense, organise it ad send the information through out the body. That's how a human body works. It is the most complex organ in the human body and has about more than 86 billion active neurones, which interact with each other to create circuits and exchange information.
The brain is also responsible for experiencing different feelings and depositing these feelings as memories in their designated spot and create the stimulation of life.
The human brain can be divided into three main parts: cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem.
- Cerebrum: Cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. It comprises the right and left hemispheres. It performs functions of our primary senses like hearing, vision, and touch and also controls the way, we learn things and feel emotion.
- Cerebellum: Cerebellum is found just under the cerebrum. it is responsible for the muscle movement and maintenance of balance and posture.
- Brainstem: It is the link between the cerebrumand cerebellum with the spinal cord and performs all the involuntary functions such as controlling body temperature, heart rate, breathing, sleep cycles, digestion, etc.
Functions of the Brain:
- Movements and motor functions: The brain controls the movement of the human body. The brain sends signals to body parts that allow them to move.
- Perception of Sensation: Every sensation humans feel like pain, tickle, heat, and cold is felt inside of the brain.
- Automatic Behaviour: Human body requires many involuntary actions to function properly such as breathing, heart rate, sleep, and temperature control. All these functions are controlled by the brain.
- Speech and language: Cognitive functions like speech and understanding of language are processed inside the brain.
- Memories and thoughts: While the mind feels all the emotions and thoughts, all these memories are stored inside the brain.
- Balance and coordination: Simple tasks like walking, running, and holding something are coordinated by our brain.
- Fight or flight response: When a human is confronted by an external stress or a dangerous situation it needs to make an important decision of fight or flight. This decision is completely involuntary and controlled by our brain.
What is Mind?
The mind is the most debated concept among humans. Everyone has their own thoughts about it. From a scientific point of view, it can be described as the complex network of thought processes and consciousness that arises from the neurological activity of the brain.
Human brain process human feelings and memories in the form of experience. All these experiences come together and create an identity of a person which is called the mind. The mind is not tangible like the brain but it controls the thought processes and perception of a person.
Parts of Mind:
| | Parts of mind | | | | --------------------------- | ---------------- | --------------- | | 1. Conscious | 2. Subconscious | 3. Unconscious |
1. Conscious Mind: The conscious mind can be described as a person's ability to think, reason, criticize, analyze, compose, discriminate, and think of the future and past while our subconscious mind collects everything, and our conscious mind decides what to keep.
2. Subconscious Mind: The subconscious mind is a term used in psychology to describe the part of the mind which is not in control of the conscious mind. The subconscious mind is the part of the mind that controls all involuntary functions such as breathing and heart rate, and it is also the part that controls emotions and stores memories. habits are also formed by the human subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind is not logical, it is the reason behind human emotions such as love, hatred, fear, jealousy, desire, etc. When a person says, “I feel...” the source of the feeling is the subconscious mind.
3. Unconscious Mind: Theunconscious mind is situated on a deeper level of our conscious awareness. Recognition of complex patterns takes place inside the unconscious mind. Many other important elements like decision-making and judgments are processed outside of the awareness of the mind. For example, intuition is also an element of the unconscious mind.
For the functioning of the human body, there are so many processes happening every moment, our conscious mind can't process all this information. So that's why, the unconscious mind handles all this information that doesn't require conscious attention. The unconscious mind is irrational and emotional. It has no relation with reality.
Functions of Mind:
| | Functions of mind | | | | ----------------------- | ----------- | ----------- | | 1. Thinking | 2. Feeling | 3. Wanting |
- Thinking: Thinking helps the mind to figure out how to do stuff. It makes sense of life's events. It helps us to visualize the future and make sense of past events. Thinking helps to plan things.
- Feeling: feelings are evolved from thinking that help to evaluate the positive and negative events in an individual's life. Feelings help to decide whether someone's life is good or bad.
- 3. Wanting: Humans need the desire to take action. Desire is the biggest motivation for humans.
Mind vs Brain
| Sr. No. | Basis of difference | Brain | Mind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Concept | Brain is the physical organ of the body. It needs energy to operate. | Mind is a stimulation created by brain. |
| 2 | Composition | a)It is made up of nerve cell and blood vessels. b)The individual's thoughts can change the physical anatomy of brain. c) It is a set of neurons and grey matter. | a)It is made up of thoughts, emotions, and Consciousness. b) Past trauma and memories can change the way of thinking of an individual. c) It is a set of cognitive faculties. |
| 3 | Properties | It has a defined shape, size, and mass. | It has no shape, size, and mass. |
| 4 | Tangibility | It can be touched. | It cannot be touched. |
| 5 | Working | It works as hardware of human body | It works as software of human body. |
| 6 | Analysis | It can be studied because it is made up of physical materials. | It cannot be studied because it is a concept created by brain. |
| 7 | Parts | It has physical parts like cerebellum, cerebrum and brainstem. | It has three parts: Concious, subconscious and unconscious. |
| 8 | Role of movements | The brain is the major part of the nervous system and coordinates the human body movements. | The movements of the body are felt through mind. |
| 9 | Vulnerability | The brain can be affected with diseases and disorders | Mind can't get any disease because it doesn't have any physical existence. |
| 10 | Location | It is a part of head. | It is part of brain. |
| 11 | Access of control | It controls involuntary actions. | It controls voluntary action. |
| 12 | Functions | a) It's function is to control organs, voluntary and involuntary actions. b) The brain do not force people to take actions or to do something. c) It fulfills the orders given by mind. | a)The Mind refers to a person’s understanding of words and deriving interpretation from these words and refered as a thought process. b) People choose their actions on the basis of their mind. c) An individual's experience of human life is created by its mind. |
| 13 | Codependency | The brain responds to mind. | Mind uses the brain. |
| 14 | Output | Brain generates energy through thinking, feeling, and choosing. | The mind is the product of brain's energy. The mind generates awareness and Consciousness of human body. |
| 15 | Relation | Changes in brain's physical structure can affect mind's thinking process. | The mind is a combination of subconscious and conscious activities of human brain. |
Similarities Between Brain and Mind.
- The combination of both brain and mind creates the reality of human life.
- Both brain and mind are affected by outside factors. For example: learning and social interaction.
- Both brain and mind are elastic in nature they can adapt and learn new things.
- They both help in decision making process.
- They both help in the proper functioning of human body (like movements of body parts).
- It's not possible to experience the brain and mind without the help of eachother.
- They both are affected by drug and chemical uses.
- Human is far from understanding the full workings of both the brain and mind.
Conclusion
To summarise this all, it can be said that the mind is the driver that drives the human body, and the brain is the machine that works according to signals or instructions given by the mind. The mind is in the driver's seat, which guides an individual to the destination. The brain is the hardware of our body and the mind is the software inside the brain.
The brain is the complex organ that creates this beautiful thing (with thoughts and emotions) called the mind which has these unique personalities, beautiful thoughts, and infinite imagination.
Brain and mind are both interrelated with each other. They both need each other to function properly. Without the brain, there is no existence of the mind and without the mind, the brain is just another life organ. That's why the mind and brain both exist simultaneously.