It left Britain the centre of sensation (5)

I believe the answer is:

brain

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'centre of sensation' is the definition.
'brain' can be an answer for 'sensation' (thesaurus). I am unsure of the 'centre of' bit.

'it left britain' is the wordplay.
'left' suggests deleting specific letters.
'britain' with 'it' removed is 'BRAIN'.

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for brain that I've seen before include "Seat of the intellect" , "Thinking organ" , "Whack on the head" , "Mastermind" , "Haemorrhaging of talent" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.