Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
Lobes of the brain
Lisa Otto
University of North Texas
LTEC 5300.020
Dr. Lin
August 7, 2017
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
Introduction
The human brain controls many functions of the body including physiologic, perceptual,
sensorial, cognitive, and motor functions. Brain injury, cerebrovascular disease, inflammation of
the brain, tumors, and abnormal brain development cause brain damage. The location of the
brain damage such as frontal, temporal, parietal, or occipital lobe of the brain results in varying
deficits. Behavior such as alcohol consumption and sleep deprivation also affect brain function
and cause deficits. This paper explores the structure and functions of the brain including the
lobes of the brain, as well as cognitive and motor deficits caused by brain damage and behavior.
Brain Overview
The brain encompasses three major components including the cerebrum, brainstem, and
cerebellum. First, the cerebrum consists of right and left cerebral hemispheres. The right and left
hemispheres of the brain are further divided into the four lobes of the brain termed frontal,
temporal, parietal, and occipital (Lewis, 2014). The brainstem is composed of the midbrain pons,
and medulla. In addition, the reticular formation is located in the brainstem extending from the
medulla to the thalamus and hypothalamus (Lewis, 2014). The reticular formation is a group of
neurons and axons that relay sensory information influencing spinal motor neurons, vasomotor,
and respiratory activity thus regulating arousal and sleep-wake transitions. The medulla contains
important centers that regulate the respiratory system, vasomotor activity, and cardiac functions.
Sneezing, coughing, hiccupping, vomiting, sucking, and swallowing are also controlled by the
brainstem (Lewis, 2014). The cerebellum is located under the occipital lobe of the cerebrum. The
cerebellum influences motor activity and performs three functions 1) coordinates voluntary
movements, 2) stabilizes the trunk, and 3) maintains equilibrium (Lewis 2014).
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
Lewis, 2014, p. 1409 Brain MRI, Bokde, Teipel, Schwarz, et al., 2005, p. 137
Frontal LobeThe frontal lobe is located in the anterior or front part of the brain, which is superior to
the lateral sulcus and in front of the central sulcus and contains the Broca’s area (Augustine,
2017; Lewis, 2014). The frontal lobe is characterized by numerous significant functional areas
such as the primary motor cortex (Augustine, 2017). The frontal lobe controls higher cognitive
function and memory retention, as well as voluntary motor movement including eye movement.
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
The role of the frontal lobe has expanded to encompass complex functions including attention,
memory, executive cognition, social behavior, and consciousness (Cantani et al., 2012). Lastly,
the frontal lobe receives information in the form of signals from the senses and coordinates the
senses (Goldstein, 2015).
Sleep Deprivation
The prefrontal cortex is located in the anterior portion of the frontal brain lobe. New
research points out the sensitivity of the prefrontal cortex to the lack of sleep. Consequently,
sleep deprivation impairs the ability of the frontal lobe to function during waking hours thus
impairing executive functions of the brain. Examples of executive functions affected are self-
observation planning, prioritization and decision-making abilities. The affected executive
functions correlate with attention, working memory, temporal memory, and behavior inhibition
(Muzur, Pace-Schott, & Hobson, 2002). According to Vartanian, Bouak, Caldwell, and Cheung
et. al (2014), a single night of sleep deprivation affects working memory, cognition fluency, and
executive functions, which could result in impaired divergent thinking. The resulting effects of
sleep deprivation are comparable to “a reversible functional lesion in the prefrontal cortex” (Lim
& Dinges, 2010, p.376).
In university settings today, students often choose to eliminate sleep to participate in
desired activities or complete school related tasks. Sleep deprivation negatively impacts working
memory which is important in reasoning, language, reading ability, and learning. There is an
indirect correlation between students obtaining regular sleep wake routines and higher grade
point averages (Curcio, Ferrara, & Gennaro, 2006). “Both REM (rapid eye movement) and
NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep seem necessary for learning and memory: thus for an
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
efficient consolidation of both (declarative) knowledge and (procedural) skills, the worst risk is
sleep loss or fragmentation” (Curcio, Ferrara, & Gennaro, 2006, p. 332).
In society today, many people providing emergency services, working in hospitals,
serving in the military, and working in industrial control rooms stay up throughout the night and
into the next day with minimal sleep (Harrison & Horne, 1999). In addition, advanced
professional students such as medical interns work long shifts including staying awake all night
and all day for 1-3 days. The jobs and professional student roles require flexible, innovative
(divergent) thinking, and the possession of the ability to receive new information and revise
plans (Harrison & Horne, 1999). According to Harrison & Horne (1999), “the PFC [prefrontal
cortex] is particularly associated with dealing with divergent type thinking, innovation, novelty
and the unexpected” (p.142). This center of the brain is affected by sleep deprivation. According
to Harrison and Horne (1999), “people working for extended periods of time, who are required to
make decisions necessitating innovation, flexibility, and the ability to update plans in light of
new information, and presented under rapidly changing situations should avoid sleep loss beyond
32-36 h [hours]” (p. 142).
Alcohol
Drinking alcohol affects all age groups in society including adolescence, teenagers,
adults, and the elderly. Alcohol consumption is rising thus necessitating the need to discover the
short-term and long-term effects of dependency on brain function. People with long-term alcohol
dependency undergoing imaging of the brain demonstrate decreased prefrontal cortical grey and
white matter resulting in a smaller prefrontal cortex (Virag et.al., 2015). The prefrontal region is
the most pronounced area of the brain affected by alcohol dependency (Goldstein et al., 2004;
Virag et.al., 2015). According to Virag et.al (2015), alcohol dependency is associated with
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
weaker executive functions and conversely intact implicit learning. Nonetheless, when the
alcohol dependency is long-term the brain experiences irreversible and degraded implicit
learning processes (Virag et.al, 2015). The literature supports the continued residual effects of
alcohol dependency on brain function after 3 weeks of abstinence and after one year of
abstinence from alcohol (Virag et.al, 2015).
Some youth begin drinking as early as 12 years old (Zeigler et al., 2005). According to
Zeigler et al. (2005), “The prevalence of alcohol use increases with age, from 2.6% at 12 years of
age to 67% of persons aged 21 years” (p.24). Approximately 10 million youth in the United
States report consuming alcohol in the past 30 days and 6% (2.1 million) of the youth were
heavy drinkers (Zeigler et al., 2005). According to Zeigler et al. (2005), excessive consumption
of alcohol routinely or through periods of binge drinking can result in brain damage and
cognitive deficits. The adolescence period of maturation encompasses significant
neuromaturation including active development of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.
“Through this process the prefrontal area becomes more efficient as it matures into adulthood
and enhances the ability of the adult brain (relative to the adolescent brain) to execute such task
as planning, integrating information, abstract thinking, problem solving, judgement, and
reasoning” (Zeigler et al., 2005,p.25). Excessive alcohol consumption in adolescence may affect
prefrontal area development and the corresponding functions.
Focus on Broca’s area
The Broca’s area is responsible for expressive speech. (Lewis, 2014, p. 1408). “The loss
of articulate speech due to a brain lesion in Broca’s area is commonly termed Broca’s aphasia,
motor aphasia, or expressive aphasia” (Augustine, 2014, p. 358). Aphasia is defined as the loss
of ability to use language to convey ideas excluding vocal cord paralysis or other diseases of the
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
muscles involved in speech. A person with Broca’s aphasia experiences the ability to
comprehend language; however, the patient cannot speak (Augustine, 2014).
Frontal Lobe Damage
Frontal lobe damage results in numerous deficits. See summary table below.
Lobe Damage DeficitsFrontal Motor
Cognitive function
Memory
Executive functions
o Planning
o Integrating information
o Abstract thinking
o Problem solving
o Judgement
o Reasoning
Broca’s Area Aphasia
o Loss of articulate speech
o Difficulty with sounds and letters
o Difficulty expressing self
Table adapted from Augustine, 2017; Cantani et al., 2012; Harrison and Horne (1999); and Lewis, 2014
TemporalThe temporal lobes are located on the sides of the brain under the ears and contain the
Wernicke’s area. The temporal lobes receive input from multiple sensory systems including
somatosensory, visual, olfactory, and auditory. In addition, the temporal lobe is involved in
language and auditory processing, as well as social attention (Wong & Gallate, 2012). The
temporal lobe performs multiple functions including 1) auditory processing and discrimination,
2) visual processing and discrimination, 3) learning, 4) memory, 5) social cognition, 6) social
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
behaviors, 7) sexual behaviors, 8) language processing, 9) facial recognition 10) smell
perception, 11) taste perception, 12) semantic memory, 13) knowledge, and 14) processing of
unique stimuli (Wong & Gallate, 2012). The right temporal lobe is thought to determine
emotional responses such as empathy and social behavior. In contrast, the left temporal lobe
seems to be more involved in cognitive processes (Wong & Gallate, 2012).
Wernicke’s area
The Wernicke’s area is responsible for receptive speech (Lewis, 2014). Wernicke’s
aphasia manifests as a comprehension disorder rather than an expressive disorder. Wernicke’s
aphasia is termed sensory aphasia, central aphasia, receptive aphasia, and auditory aphasia
involving deficits in word and sentence comprehension (Augustine, 2014). A person
experiencing Wernicke’s aphasia generally maintains fluent speech but cannot understand or
comprehend language, spoken or written (Augustine, 2014).
Temporal Lobe Damage
Temporal lobe damage results in numerous deficits. See summary table below.
Lobe Damage DeficitsTemporal Right Social and Emotional Behaviors
o Social awkwardness
o Loss of empathy
o Lack of inhibition
o Bizarre affect
o Demonstration of repetitive behaviors
Prosopagnosia (cannot recognize the face of familiar people)
Temporal Left Semantic cognition
o Cognitive problems
o Anomia (unable to recall the names of objects)
o Semantic deficits
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
o Lowered comprehension
Wernicke’s Area
Lack of comprehension
o Understanding spoken language impairment
o Understanding reading impairment
Table adapted from Wong and Gallate 2012 and Augustine, 2014, and Lewis, 2014
Parietal LobeThe parietal lobe is located in the back half of the brain. The parietal lobe is composed of
the somatosensory cortex and senses touch including pain and pressure (Goldstein, 2015). The
parietal lobe controls and interprets spatial information (Lewis, 2014). Current research data
supports parietal contributions to episodic memory retrieval. Episodic memory refers to every
day events held in conscious memory. Delineated regions of the parietal lobe contribute to
specific processes involved in memory (Wagner, Shannon, Kahn, & Buckner, 2005). Another
type of deficit a person may experience due to damage to the parietal lobe is alexia with
agraphia. According to Augustine (2014), “alexia, with agraphia, is acquired inability to read and
write, probably localized to the left angular gyrus of the parietal lobe” (p. 360). Damage to the
parietal lobes of the brain may result in many types of deficits. See the table below.
Parietal Lobe Damage
Parietal lobe damage results in numerous deficits. See summary table below.
Lobe Damage DeficitsParietal Neglect
Attentional deficit
Apraxia
Difficulty planning motor movements
Alexia with agraphiaTable adapted from Wagner, Shannon, Kahn, & Buckner, 2005; Augustine, 2014; and Lewis, 2014
Occipital Lobe
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
The occipital lobe is located in the back of the brain (Lewis, 2014). The occipital lobe is
the end where the neural fibers terminate that contain visual information from the retina
(Nehmad, 1998). According to Nehmad (1998), “Connections between the occipital lobes and its
adjacent parietal and temporal lobes also serve higher visual functions, such as reading, writing,
and recognition” (p.125). Some functions of the occipital lobe regarding vision are 1) integrate
sensory information with different areas of the brain, 2) integrating halves of the opposite visual
fields, and 3) visual memory (Nehmad, 1998).
Occipital Lobe DamageOccipital lobe damage results in numerous deficits. See summary table below.
Lobe Damage DeficitsOccipital Visual recognition
Visual orientation
Visual agnosia
o Cannot recall the name of an object
o Cannot demonstrate the use of an object
o Cannot remember seeing an object before
Voluntary eye movements
Visual field defects
Homonymous hemianopsia
Isolated visual symptoms
Alexia without agraphia
Optic Ataxia
Unable to complete color vision tests, maintain the ability to name
colors
BlindnessTable adapted from Augustine, 2014; Nehmad, 1998; and Lewis, 2014
Other Brain DisordersDyslexia
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
Dyslexia is the most common reading disability affecting children. According to
Augustine (2014), “dyslexia is characterized by the inability to learn to comprehend the sounds
related to the written language” (p.360). Typically children with dyslexia demonstrate difficulty
learning to read, but exhibit adequate intelligence for their age. Injury or abnormal development
of the temporo-parietio-occipital region, striate, or extrastriate cortex is associated with dyslexia
(Augustine, 2014).
Conclusion
Cognitive and motor deficits may be caused by brain damage, cerebrovascular disease,
swelling or inflammation, traumatic injury (head trauma), cancer (brain tumor), or abnormal
brain development. Depending on the region of the brain damaged or location of the abnormal
development, a person may experience various deficits ranging from mild to severe such as
impaired decision making skills, blindness, memory impairment, knowledge impairment, reading
impairment, language impairment, cognitive disruption, and motor deficits. The deficits affect a
person’s ability to acquire knowledge through learning activities and school attendance, as well
as participate in activities of daily living. Numerous advances in brain imaging and interventions
are being explored to discover early detection methods, prevention strategies, and treatment
options for abnormal brain development, brain disease, and injury.
Lisa Otto: Lobes of the Brain
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