Beneath the cerebrum, at the very back of the head about where it meets the nape of the neck, is the cerebellum (Latin for “little brain”). Although the cerebellum occupies just 10 percent of the cranial cavity, it has more than half the brain’s neurons. It has a lot of neurons not because it does a great deal of thinking but because it controls balance and complex movements, and that requires an abundance of wiring. At the base of the brain, descending from it rather like an elevator shaft connecting the brain to the spine and the body beyond, is the oldest part of the brain, the brain stem.
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