Bootcamp training day 2 Research and Development Department

[Jordan Anthony Vex]

Amos had listened quietly to the presentations of the two other recruits. Even after the first one he could see where he had gone wrong with his own presentation. He lacked a certain bit of ingenuity on his part. Yes, he displayed the know how of what he said he understood, but he didn't really offer anything more than that. "Is that what I have been lacking?" He thought to himself? Had he lost that ingenuitive spark, sitting in that office for all those years? For a few moments, he sat there letting all sorts of ideas race through his mind on how he could improve his own project. The natural reaction was that he should be bold, and risk some impromptu idea of his own and tie it in with his project somehow? He concluded however that this was a knee-jerk reaction, and if he acted on it it could possibly land him somewhere he ought not to be. He had a presentation, and he had rehearsed it and knew it inside and out. If there were questions on what he could do with it, Amos knew he could come up with something.

As the second presentation went on, Amos found himself drifting in thought as he listened. Not out of disrespect, but simply because he was caught up in how he let this happen.  "To think I have become too safe? After all these years I thought myself much bolder than that." He let the feelings wash over him as he dwelled on it. Then, he heard his name as he was called up. Taking a deep breath, he took the little brain he had carved out of wood in his hands. Walking up before the two in front of him, he saluted, and set the wood carved brain on the table in front of him. 

"Gentleman, today I have made a wood carving of  a brain. What I hope to accomplish by the end of my presentation is to have shown and displayed that I have a full understanding of the brain as a whole, and to have hopefully given everyone here at the very least a basic understanding of it as well. Today we will go over the cerebrum, or the forebrain. Though there are two other portions the mid and hindbrain. The forebrain is the main and most widely recognized portion of the brain, and has the most to understand." Using the wooden carving, he pointed to the upper part of the carving, the portion of the brain many think of when thinking of a brain.

"This is the cerebrum, the forebrain, and is the portion of the brain associated with higher mental function, like thought and emotions. This part of the brain is made up of several different portions that allow it to function at such a high capacity" Pointing at the front part of the carving, he began to discuss the frontal lobes.

"The frontal lobe is above the temporal lobes and in front of the parietal lobe. This portion of the brain is responsible for helping us plan schedules, remember a task, or use a thought out argument. They do this by acting as short term memory sites, holding one piece of information as another is processed. In the back of the frontal lobe is the motor cortex which programs movement, and on the left portion of the frontal lobe is a portion of the brain called broca's area, which is what transforms our thoughts into words." He then pointed to the rear lobe, the parietal lobe.

"This is the Parietal lobe. Whenever you smell a good meal, or remember how a food felt or tasted. This is the portion of the brain responsible for that. At the very front of these lobes, are the primary sensory areas. These areas are what help us feel temperature or feel the differences of touch." Moving on, he pointed the rearmost lobe, spinning the carving around.

"This is the Occipital lobe, as the name hints, this is the portion of the brain that coordinates eye function, and help us link the things we see to information stored in our brain. A very important part of our brain function." Then leaning the carving up on it's hinge, he displayed the temporal lobe.

"This lobe, the Temporal lobe, is underneath the Parietal and frontal lobes. It is responsible for how we feel about music. Primarily it decodes the things we hear, and it helps us when forming and remembering memories we have." Then opening up the small latch keeping the brain together, he displayed the inner brain.

"Finally, here we have the inner brain, or as some would call it the limbic lobe. This portion of the brain has many smaller portions with highly specialized functions, but for the sake of simplicity we will simply refer to it as the inner brain. This portion of the brain is responsible for waking us up, allowing us to move without having to think carefully about it first, monitors adrenaline and wakes us up in the morning. It is also most importantly, where a lot of our emotions stem from, the things that make us angry, happy or sad, from a chemical point of view, come from this portion of our brain." Closing up the brain and latching it shut again. Amos smiled "Any questions gentleman?" Aside from could that be any more boring? Amos was almost convinced there wouldn't be. He just hoped that no one had fallen asleep.