Collocations for brain - noun

human
left, right
The left brain controls the right-hand side of the body.

cell, tissue
region
stem (usually brainstem)
function, process
activity
damage, death, disease, disorder, failure, haemorrhage/hemorrhage, illness, injury, tumour/tumor
scan
He had a brain scan to search for possible damage.

surgeon, surgery
activity, function, waves (usually brainwaves)

in the/your brain
Doctors tried to reduce the swelling in his brain.

on the/your brain
He was found to have a blood clot on his brain.
He has sex on the brain (= thinks about nothing but sex).

blow your brains out
He put a gun to his head and threatened to blow his brains out.

fertile, fine, good, great, quick
muddled, tired
My tired brain couldn't cope with such a complex problem.

analytical

rack
We racked our brains but we couldn't come up with a solution.

pick sb's (= ask sb for information because they know more about a subject than you)
I need to pick your brains: what can you tell me about credit unions?

take
It doesn't take much brain to work out that both stories can't be true.

use

function, tick over, work
It's important to keep your brain ticking over.

reel
His brain reeled as he realized the implication of his dismissal.

register sth
The stopping distance includes the time taken for the brain to register the need to stop.

power (usually brainpower)
drain (= the movement of skilled people to other countries)

brain behind
He was the brains behind the robberies.

brains, not brawn, etc.
They relied on brains rather than brawn (= intelligence, not strength).

have a brain for sth
She has a good brain for mathematics.