Mind - The Predecessor of Brain

Let us have a look at the sequence and chronology of the evolution of the brain. The primitive single-celled life began to exist on planet earth around 3.4 billion years ago. It procreated itself by dividing itself into two daughter cells, sustained through absorption by the cell walls from its immediate environment, and defended itself from predators with the release of befriending or killer proteins. It took a billion and a half years for specialized cells such as neurons capable of generating electrical signals to evolve. It took another billion and a half years for neurons to develop an ability for inter-neuronal communication. Light sensing cells needed for eyes evolved around that time. Amphibians and reptilians evolved around 350 million years ago with the development of brain stems and later limbic structures. After the development of the limbic brain, the experience of the safety of survival in numbers of the same species led to the development of subconscious herd identity which, in humans, morphs into a much more complicated ego identity. With the evolution of mammals around 200 million years ago, began the evolution of the cerebral cortex capable of conscious consideration and decision making. Humans are mammals too. They started arriving on the planet around 200 thousand years ago. The human cerebral cortex is the last to develop. It is known as the neocortex. It is characterized by a large surface area folded with deep grooves and ridges to fit inside the human skull. The prefrontal part of the human neocortex is where information is processed and decisions made.

Life on the planet has a history of around three and a half billion years while neurons, the building blocks of the brain, are only around two billion years old. Thus, bodies have a mind even when they do not have a brain. The brain may be considered the physical correlate of the mind, in fact, the mind is much more than the brain. Thus, the body has its own intelligence in addition to that of the brain.