Jimmy Smith was a curious boy. You see, every day between noon and four he would suddenly disappear, and no one knew where he went. No one but Jimmy of course. Jimmy had a secret, which was that he had a magic map, and every time he opened it, it would lead him on a new adventure. This was nothing new to Jimmy, he had been doing this for years. But this is no ordinary story of Jimmy's adventures. This one has a twist. This story is about the map, how it broke, and how Jimmy managed to get home as the clock struck four. 

Chapter 1: 

The Unfortunate Tale of the Magic Map

Bye Jimmy! Have a nice day at school!

I will mom!

Jimmy wasn't going to school, however. With his magic map secure in his hand, Jimmy walked to his secret spot in the forest where he would open the map and see what adventures awaited him today.

As he walked away, his mother grumbled to herself, "I wonder why that boy always takes his map to school".

Finally, I'm alone. I wonder what adventure this map has in store for me today?

"Agabagaboo" exclaimed Jimmy, which was the magic word needed to open his map.

The map quickly unravelled and revealed to Jimmy a picture of a skeleton. 

"I wonder what this means", wondered Jimmy. "Maybe my adventure today is fighting off skeletons? Or maybe it's becoming one! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see."

Jimmy could never get to his adventures on foot, that would be ridiculous. Would you be able to walk to the pyramids to fight off mummies, or swim to the middle of the ocean to ride sharks? Instead, Jimmy had a magic ship that could send him wherever the map pleased. Jimmy called for his ship which was hidden in the tress and got in. He checked his map one more time, and then he was off.

WOOHOO! 

We have arrived Jimmy. Current location: the human brain.

Did I forget to mention his ship talked?

Jimmy was stunned. He had never been inside a body before. He supposed the map really was being literal when it showed him a skeleton. Jimmy opened a hole in the ship to test if he could walk around without suffocating. The test came back negative. Darn. Just as Jimmy was about to close the hole, he saw something zip by. He was so surprised that he jumped back and the map flew out the hole, shattering into 14 pieces and floating away. How was Jimmy supposed to get home without his map? This was a disaster!

Chapter 2:

The Unexpected Friend

"Movement detected. Source: unknown" said the ship. Jimmy looked around and noticed three eyes looking at him. Odd. Slowly a small orange creature emerged and came towards Jimmy's ship. She introduced herself as Glorb. She lived in this brain and was minding her business when she heard a funny noise. When she came to investigate she noticed Jimmy looked lost. He explained the situation about the broken map, and she said she would help him find all of the missing pieces so that he could put the map together and return home. She knew just the place to start.

Here Jimmy, take this check list. These are the different parts of the brain where I'm sure the map has ended up!

Cerebrum                              Parietal Lobe

Cerebellum                            Temporal Lobe 

Brainstem                             Occipital Lobe

Right Hemisphere                  Broca Area

Left Hemisphere                    Wernicke Area

Corpus Callosum                    Motor Strip

Frontal Lobe                          Sensory Strip

Chapter 3:

The Brain

Right now we're in the brainstem. The brainstem is the stem-like part of the base of the brain that is connected to the spinal cord. The brainstem controls the flow of messages between the brain and the rest of the body, and it also controls basic body functions such as breathing, swallowing, heart rate, blood pressure, consciousness, and whether one is awake or sleepy. The brainstem consists of the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata. They all have different functions. Everything from sneezing to motor control!

Jimmy looked around for what felt like ages. At last, he found the first piece of his map.

Found it!

Jimmy checked off the first location. He and Glorb continued up the brainstem until they reached the next location. Jimmy noticed the brainstem made him feel a little sleepy.

Wait up!

Finally, we're here! Right now we're at the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is a thick band of nerve fibers containing millions of axons through which homologous and non-homologous regions of the brain’s two hemispheres communicate with each other.

Jimmy and Glorb searched and searched until finally, Glorb found the next piece of the map floating around. She gave it to Jimmy, and he checked off where they were. Off they went.

As they travelled together, the two shared stories. Jimmy told Glorb about what life was like outside the brain. He told her stories of school, about his big dog, and his many adventures with the map. Talking about his broken map made Jimmy sad. He wondered if he would ever get home. 

"Don't worry Jimmy, I promise you'll be back home in no time" Glorb assured him.  

Telling stories made the time fly by and before they knew it, they reached the Cerebellum.  

Glorb explained this area as Jimmy searched for another stray map piece 

Here we are Jimmy: the cerebellum. The cerebellum is located behind the top part of the brain stem (where the spinal cord meets the brain) and is made of two hemispheres. The cerebellum receives information from the sensory systems, the spinal cord, and other parts of the brain and uses that to regulate and coordinate motor movements like posture, balance, coordination, and speech, resulting in smooth and balanced muscular activity. It is also important for learning motor behaviours.

Ship, extend your arm and bring back that map piece!

The two continued their adventure through the brain. As they left, Jimmy corrected his posture. Glorb said next they would be travelling to the occipital lobe. She explained that "the main job of your occipital lobe is to decode visual information, such as form, colour, and movement. By associating these visual perceptions with remembered images, this part of your brain, also known as the visual cortex, lets you recognize and identify objects". Once they reached their destination, Jimmy quickly found what he was looking for and soon they kept going. 

Woah, what is the place? And why do my memories feel funny?

Just as they reached the next area, the missing map piece flew straight onto Jimmy's window. He was happy this piece was easy to find. As he put the piece away with the others, his head felt a little funny. He decided to ask Glorb about it. Surely she would know why he was feeling off.

The anterior regions of your parietal lobe handle your sensory perceptions-not only taste, but also touch, temperature and pain. Your parietal lobe also takes in auditory and visual signals and associates them with your memories to give them meaning. Without your parietal lobe, you would not be able to understand spoken or written language.

As they went to the next area, Jimmy checked off all the places they had been. He was feeling confident he would get home. They were heading to the Temporal lobe next.

Temporal Lobe Up Ahead

The temporal lobe is the part of the brain that lets you distinguish the volume and frequency of sounds. The upper portions of your temporal lobe are also the part of the brain that lets you understand the meaning of lyrics. Furthermore, the temporal lobe is also involved in forming and recalling memories. The right temporal lobe is more involved in visual memory, while the left is more involved in verbal memory. 

Jimmy quickly spotted the map piece. It was floating away from him quickly, before getting stuck between a fold. The arm of his ship was too short to reach it, and Glorb was busy explaining the temporal lobe to him. Jimmy decided he would have to get it himself. He put on the special suit that would allow him to breathe, and he walked across the lobe until he found the paper. 

"Yuck" Jimmy exclaimed. "This brain feels like toothpaste!"

Glorb heard him and laughed.

They soon reached the frontal lobe. Jimmy was ecstatic because they were halfway through the brain locations! Glorb explained: "in addition to reasoning and planning, your frontal lobe modulates your emotions and is involved with what makes up your personality. Your voluntary body movements are also initiated in the frontal lobe but the portion farther back. Lastly, a small region in your left frontal lobe is very important, because it lets you convert your thoughts into words".

Jimmy, your map is halfway done! I told you you would get home! Next up is the Broca's area.

Jimmy and Glorb decided to race and see who could get to the Broca's area first. Naturally, Glorb won. She did live in the brain, after all.

The part where we are now is called the broca area, also known as the anterior speech area. This area is responsible for language production and language output. The broca area is also believed to be involved in movement and action and is active during planning movement, imitating movement, and understanding another's movement.