This means that brain damage early in life renders the frontal lobe particularly vulnerable, potentially affecting behavior and cognition forever. Although all mammals have a frontal lobe, highly social mammals, such as dolphins and primates, tend to have more developed frontal lobes. This suggests that our social interactions may play a key role in the development of intelligence, and that the brain must devote significant resources to responding to the demands of social interactions.
Humans have larger and more developed frontal lobes than any other animal. Most neuroscientists divide the frontal lobe into four distinct regions, each containing a number of vital structures. Those include:. Though the frontal lobe is often deemed the seat of consciousness, it cannot think or feel alone.
No single brain region can fully control any other region or function without heavy input from the body, other parts of the brain, and the outside world. The frontal lobe is no exception, and works alongside all other brain lobes to coordinate consciousness.
The frontal lobe, like all brain regions, connects with the limbic lobe, which houses brain structures associated with the limbic system.
The limbic system controls automatic and primitive reactions, but these reactions are heavily dependent upon emotion and experience. Because the frontal lobe is home to much consciousness, its input into the limbic lobe is vital. For instance, an emotional reaction to a traumatic experience can affect limbic functioning forever, and the memories housed in the frontal lobe may strengthen limbic system reactions over time. Because the frontal lobe is home to many higher functions, it is especially dependent upon experiences and memories.
That means that social interactions, education, and similar experiences heavily affect the functioning of this important brain region. Sensory input also plays a key role, since the frontal lobe relies on memory, previous experience, and information about the surrounding world to judge the potential effects of future actions. Most people experience some atrophy in the frontal lobe in their senior years, with frontal lobe volume decreasing by.
This slow and steady decline accounts for many of the changes, such as mild memory loss and difficulty with finding some words, associated with normal aging. More rapid frontal lobe decline can lead to symptoms of dementia. The frontal lobe is highly vulnerable to damage for at least two reasons: first, as the last brain region to fully develop, developmental anomalies—including child abuse, an insufficiently stimulating environment, drug use, infections, and other factors—can permanently alter its development.
Second, the frontal lobe's home in the front of the forehead renders it highly vulnerable, especially to auto accident-related injuries, violence, and falls. Even relatively minor blows can rattle the brain sufficiently to impede frontal lobe functioning. The effect of frontal lobe damage is dependent on its location and severity, as well as how quickly it is detected. Children who face serious abuse may live with frontal lobe damage for years, while car accident survivors often get more immediate help.
Treatment for frontal lobe injuries typically includes medical and psychological treatment, since the frontal lobe houses the emotional life and personality. Overall health, age at the time of injury, quality of medical treatment, and an active and stimulating environment can all affect recovery trajectories. Seniors are more vulnerable to frontal lobe damage because their frontal lobes are already deteriorating.
Frontal lobe damage can have extensive and far-reaching damage, as in the case of frontal lobe dementia, which leads to aggression, behavior changes, and difficulties with language. Some other consequences of frontal lobe damage include:. Spinal cord injuries are traumatic for patients and their families. They cause disruptive changes to every aspect of your life and there is a lot of new information to navigate and understand. Our experts have collected everything in one place to help you learn more about your injury, locate doctors and treatment centers, find financial support, and get assistance navigating your next move.
Frontal Lobe: Function, Location and Structure The frontal lobe is the home of much of what makes us human. The body of fornix joins the hippocampus and mammillary bodies, structures in the base of the brain that are involved in memory formation and recall…. The fornix commissure is a thin, triangular sheet of transverse horizontal fibers.
It is located on the inside of the brain's fornix, which is the…. The pons is a portion of the brain stem, located above the medulla oblongata and below the midbrain. Although it is small, at approximately 2. The amygdaloid body is also known as the amygdaloid nucleus. This is an oval structure located within the temporal lobe of the human brain. The putamen is a large structure located within the brain. It is involved in a very complex feedback loop that prepares and aids in movement of the….
In the brain, oxygenated blood travels through an extensive and central cerebral arterial circle. This network is called the circle of Willis. The vagus nerve is the longest of the 12 cranial nerves. Here, learn about its anatomy, functions, and the kinds of health problems that can occur. This information handout is designed to introduce your client to the gross anatomy of the brain and the relevant cognitive functions associated with it.
Brain lobes are annotated on the lateral view, and the design and language have been kept simple so that the handout can be used with a wide range of clients, including those with neurological conditions.
This handout can be used as a psychoeducation resource, to introduce your client to brain structure and function. For clients with neurological conditions e.
Useful prompts include:. For clients whose mental health conditions have a clear neurobiological underpinning, it can help to introduce brain structure and function:. For clients with neurological conditions, this handout can be used to start discussions on cognition and cognitive impairment:. What Does The Brain Do? Preview All Resources. Premium Feature Emailing resources to clients is restricted to only the Advanced and Team plans. Editable version PPT Powerpoint.
The cognitive functions associated with these lobes can be summarized as follows: The frontal lobe is the last area of the cerebral cortex to mature, and is associated with some of the most complex aspects of human cognition, especially the executive functions that guide and monitor complex behavior Vincent et al, The inferior parts of the frontal lobe are closely associated with working memory : the ability to temporarily store and use information such as when doing mental arithmetic or solving an anagram , which is sometimes included as part of the executive functions Miyake et al, The primary motor cortex is located at the posterior of the frontal lobe, anterior to the central sulcus.
This brain area is responsible for voluntary movement of body muscles. The parietal lobe is an association cortex, where different kinds of information are brought together Ham et al, The primary somatosensory cortex is behind the central sulcus, and it receives information from the body about touch, temperature and pain. The superior parietal lobe is associated with proprioception where the body is oriented in space , attention particularly spatial attention , spatial reasoning and mathematical ability.
The inferior region of the parietal lobe, close to the Sylvian fissure, houses the gustatory cortex where information about taste is processed. The inferior parietal lobe also contains the supramarginal gyrus, which sits around the posterior end of the Sylvian fissure.
This is involved in the comprehension of speech and language Ogar et al, The temporal lobe is another association cortex and in the left hemisphere it is most closely associated with language processing. The primary auditory cortex receives sensory inputs for auditory stimuli hearing.
The left superior temporal lobe is closely associated with the recognition and comprehension of language, and the retrieval of word meaning Ogar et al, The right temporal lobe is associated with recognizing individuals, identifying individual voices, and non-verbal auditory processing Scott, The inferior temporal lobes are visual association areas, involved with recognizing people, objects, words reading , and semantic memory Ogar et al, ; Karnath et al, The occipital lobe contains the primary visual cortex, which receives input from the eyes via the optic nerves and is responsible for visual perception.
This processes information about shape, color, orientation and movement. The cerebellum sits outside the cerebral cortex, sitting posterior and inferior to the occipital and temporal lobes. It has a principal role in motor skills and movement, and helps to coordinate and monitor body movements, balance, and posture Manto, These include: The cingulate.
The middle cingulate plays a role in attention and decision making, in particular the appraisal of a situation, monitoring and response selection Ham et al, The amygdala is part of the medial temporal lobe, and is involved in detecting threats and attributing affective value to stimuli.
It has a role in decision making, in particular responding to emotional stimuli e. A central part of the fight or flight response , it is closely associated with emotional states of anger , aggression, fear and anxiety.
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