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Lobes of the brain

Lobes of the brain is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lobes of the brain rather than just read about it. In short: The lobes of the brain are the four major identifiable regions of the human cerebral cortex, and they comprise the surface of each hemisphere of the cerebrum. The two hemispheres are roughly symmetrical in structure, and are connected by the corpus callosum.

Lobes of the brain — main illustration
Lobes of the brain — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Lobes of the brain belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Lobes of the brain to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Lobes of the brain from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The lobes of the brain are the four major identifiable regions of the human cerebral cortex, and they comprise the surface of each hemisphere of the cerebrum. The two hemispheres are roughly symmetrical in structure, and are connected by the corpus callosum. Some sources include the insula and limbic lobe but the limbic lobe incorporates parts of the other lobes. The lobes are large areas that are anatomically distinguishable, and are also functionally distinct. Each lobe of the brain has numerous ridges, or gyri, and furrows, sulci that constitute further subzones of the cortex. The expression "lobes of the brain" usually refers only to those of the cerebrum, not to the distinct areas of the cerebellum.

Frontal lobe

The frontal lobe is located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere and positioned in front of the parietal lobe and above and in front of the temporal lobe. It is separated from the parietal lobe by a space between tissues called the central sulcus, and from the temporal lobe by a deep fold called the lateral sulcus, also called the Sylvian fissure. The precentral gyrus, which forms the posterior border of the frontal lobe, contains the primary motor cortex (area 4 under the Brodmann area architecture) which controls voluntary movements of specific body parts. The precentral region also contains the premotor cortex (Brodmann area 6). The frontal lobe contains most of the dopamine-delicate neurons in the cerebral cortex. The dopamine system is associated with reward, attention, short-term memory tasks, planning, and motivation. Dopamine tends to limit and select sensory information arriving from the thalamus to the forebrain. A report from the National Institute of Mental Health says a gene variant that reduces dopamine activity in the prefrontal cortex is related to poorer performance and inefficient functioning of that brain region during working memory tasks, and to a slightly increased risk for schizophrenia. The frontal lobe consists of the prefrontal cortex which is located in the most anterior (farthest away) section of the frontal lobe. It is critical for one's working memory and executive control which helps keep goals and complex tasks organized. The divisions of the prefrontal cortex include orbital, medial, and lateral prefrontal cortex. Within the lateral prefrontal cortex there are two different divisions: the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is located on top of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and is mainly responsible for the executive control and manipulation of memories that are retrieved through episodic memory. The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex is important for the regulation of meaningful stimuli that a person experiences throughout their lifetime, such as images, letters, and names. Damage to the prefrontal cortex can result in issues with one's long term and short-term memories, as well as create changes in people's behaviors and their abilities to plan and organize. Damage can result from lesions or tumors that have been surgically removed, and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) experienced from a severe hit to the head causing damage to the brain from swelling. Most often a TBI is experienced within a person's childhood from playing competitive sports or an accident from normal play. Having a traumatic brain injury can increase your chances of developing neurological psychiatric problems and abusing substances, such as cannabis, is known to be a risk factor in developing symptoms associated with schizophrenia. A study found that schizophrenia symptoms (hearing voices, talking to people who were not there, etc.) worsened after the usage of cannabis, suggesting that a TBI from childhood can enhance a development of psychosis due to the changes seen in the white matter within the frontal-temporal areas.

Parietal lobe

The parietal lobe is positioned above the occipital lobe and behind the frontal lobe and central sulcus. The parietal lobe integrates sensory information among various modalities, including spatial sense and navigation (proprioception), the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch (mechanoreception) in the somatosensory cortex which is just posterior to the central sulcus in the postcentral gyrus, and the dorsal stream of the visual system. The major sensory inputs from the skin (touch, temperature, and pain receptors), relay through the thalamus to the parietal lobe. Several areas of the parietal lobe are important in language processing. The somatosensory cortex can be illustrated as a distorted figure — the homunculus (Latin: "little man"), in which the body parts are rendered according to how much of the somatosensory cortex is devoted to them. The superior parietal lobule and inferior parietal lobule are the primary areas of body or spatial awareness. A lesion commonly in the right superior or inferior parietal lobule leads to hemineglect.

Occipital lobe

The occipital lobe is the visual processing center of the mammalian brain containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex. The primary visual cortex is Brodmann area 17, commonly called V1 (visual one). Human V1 is located on the medial side of the occipital lobe within the calcarine sulcus; the full extent of V1 often continues onto the posterior pole of the occipital lobe. V1 is often also called striate cortex because it can be identified by a large stripe of myelin, the Stria of Gennari. Visually driven regions outside V1 are called extrastriate cortex. There are many extrastriate regions, and these are specialized for different visual tasks, such as visuospatial processing, color differentiation, and motion perception.

Temporal lobe

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Lobes of the brain illustration
Lobes of the brain illustration
Lobes of the brain illustration
Lobes of the brain illustration
Lobes of the brain illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lobes of the brain

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lobes of the brain claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lobes of the brain before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lobes of the brain ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lobes of the brain

In research
Lobes of the brain appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Lobes of the brain in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Lobes of the brain is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Brain, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Lobes of the brain outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Lobes of the brain in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Lobes of the brain means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Lobes of the brain out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lobes of the brain in simple terms?

The lobes of the brain are the four major identifiable regions of the human cerebral cortex, and they comprise the surface of each hemisphere of the cerebrum. The two hemispheres are roughly symmetrical in structure, and are connected by the corpus callosum.

Why does Lobes of the brain matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lobes of the brain?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lobes of the brain.

Tags

  • Brain

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