Brain Part 1
Located just behind the forehead, these lobes are responsible for higher thinking, decision-making, and controlling movements. They influence your personality and social behavior.
Frontal Lobes
These lobes sit above the ears and are essential for processing sounds and understanding language. They also help you recognize faces and objects.
Temporal Lobes
This disorder is characterized by progressive memory loss, confusion, and difficulty with language, often associated with the buildup of plaques and tangles in the brain.
Alzheimer’s Disease
The famous case study of Henry Molaison (Patient H.M.) was conducted following a surgery to eliminate epileptic seizures. After the operation, patient H.M. could no longer form any new memories. He could recall memories from before the surgery, but could not establish any new memories. H.M. had a normal level of intelligence and vocabulary. While he could not learn any new words or return to a conversation once distracted, he could however learn to complete new tasks.
Temporal Lobe
This part of the limbic system is important for forming and storing explicit memories, like facts and events. It plays a key role in learning.
Hippocampus
Located below the thalamus, this area controls basic functions like eating, drinking, and body temperature. It also helps manage hormones and is linked to feelings of pleasure and emotion.
Hypothalamus
This condition, often linked to head trauma or strokes, causes difficulty in producing or understanding speech, and can result from damage to Broca's or Wernicke's areas.
Aphasia
Dr. Taylor experienced a stroke that affected her ability to speak, perceive her body’s position, and understand written words. These functions are associated with the forebrain, particularly areas such as the left hemisphere, which is responsible for language (Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area) and spatial awareness (parietal lobe).
Parietal Lobe
Located at the back of the frontal lobes, this area is responsible for planning and controlling voluntary movements.
Motor Cortex
Initiates many of our voluntary responses, controls learned motor skills, coordination of facial expressions and gestures and can control complex intellectual processes such as: speech, thought, concentration, problem-solving, judgment, and planning for the future.
Occipital Lobe
This neurological disorder involves sudden, brief electrical disturbances in the brain, leading to uncontrolled movements or loss of consciousness. It can be caused by genetics, brain injury, or other factors.
Epilepsy
After a traumatic accident in which a tamping iron was thrust through his skull, Phineas Gage experienced profound changes in his personality, motor skills, and vision. The damage most likely occurred to this lobe of the brain, which is involved in decision-making, emotional regulation, and motor function.
Frontal Lobe
Found in the frontal lobe, usually on the left side, this area controls the muscles needed for speech and helps you form sentences.
Broca's Area
This bundle of nerve fibers connects the two hemispheres of the brain, allowing them to communicate and coordinate activities. When severed to treat severe epilepsy, it can result in a "split brain," where the hemispheres operate independently.
Corpus Callosum
a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time. The nervous system is a network of nerve cells that controls many parts of the body, including movement.
Parkinson's Disease
Dr. V.S. Ramachandran's research on phantom limb sensations, including the phenomenon where a patient with a missing hand felt sensations on his face as if they were occurring in the missing hand, points to possible damage or reorganization in this lobe of the brain, which processes sensory information.
Parietal Lobe
Located in the left temporal lobe, this area is involved in understanding and producing language. It helps you comprehend spoken and written words.
Wernicke’s Area
This group of brain structures, which includes the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, is responsible for emotions, drives, and long-term memory, earning it the nickname "emotional brain."
The Limbic System
This syndrome occurs when hostages or victims of kidnapping develop positive feelings for, or even identify with, their captors as a coping mechanism, often in response to extreme psychological trauma.
Stockholm Syndrome
"This neurological condition, described in Oliver Sacks' book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was characterized by an individual’s inability to recognize faces, a tendency to misidentify objects, and a partial loss of memory and spatial awareness, likely linked to damage in this part of the brain."
Temporal Lobe