BRAIN LOBES: FUNCTIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS - NEUROPSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The cerebral lobes are the different regions into which the cerebral cortex divides. There are four different lobes, each located in the two cerebral hemispheres: frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital. In addition, some authors propose a fifth lobe; the insula.

An important characteristic of the lobes of the brain is that they are symmetrically organized in the two hemispheres of the brain. That is, the cerebral cortex can be divided into two different hemispheres; the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. Each of these hemispheres has a proportional part of each brain lobe.

Diagram showing the lobes of the human cerebral cortex and cerebellum. Source: Source: user Washington irving. Public Domain File

The lobes are probably the most easily identifiable regions of the brain. These are located in the cerebral cortex, that is, in the outermost region of the brain. They are characterized by covering the entire brain structure; They cover the entire area of ​​the skull, covering the different external regions of the brain.

General characteristics of the cerebral lobes

Anatomically, the lobes are characterized by being clearly divided by the two hemispheres. In each of the hemispheres of the brain, 50% of each of the lobes is present. Therefore, these regions are perfectly distributed between both sides of the brain.

Each brain lobe has a different location; the frontal lobe is in the frontal part of the skull; the parietal lobe in the uppermost region; the temporal lobe in the most inferior zone and the occipital lobe in the most posterior region.

Frontal lobe (orange), parietal lobe (pink), occipital lobe (purple), temporal lobe (green).

Likewise, in addition to the four lobes that divide the cerebral cortex into four large regions, the occipital lobes include a last structure known as the insula.

The insula is much smaller in size than the other lobes of the brain and is located in the deepest region of the temporal lobe. In fact, this region is classified as the hidden lobe of the brain, as it is visually hidden by the temporal lobe above it.

However, multiple investigations have shown that both its anatomy and its activity are related to the cerebral lobes and, therefore, it is also part of the cerebral cortex.

Frontal lobe

Frontal lobe

The frontal lobe, as its name suggests, is located in the frontal region of the cortex. That is, it is the part of the brain that human beings have in the area of ​​the forehead.

It is characterized by being the largest lobe of the brain, so its anatomical structure is not limited to the area of ​​the forehead but is projected towards higher and deeper regions. In fact, the frontal lobe occupies about a third of the entire cerebral cortex.

The frontal lobe is separated in its upper region from the parietal lobe through Rolando's fissure and in its lower region from the temporal lobe through Silvio's fissure.

Features

The frontal lobe is notable for its role in processing elaborate cognitive functions. That is, it carries out activities such as planning, coordination, execution, and behavior control.

On the other hand, the temporal lobe also performs important activities such as goal setting, anticipation, articulation of language, or regulation of emotions.

This brain region is classified as the most evolved and developed. That is, the greater magnitude and functionality of the frontal lobe of human beings explains a large part of their cognitive differences with other animals.

In this sense, the frontal lobe is the brain structure that plays a more prominent role with functions related to intelligence, planning, and coordination of complex voluntary movement sequences.

It allows to mitigate instinctive and impulsive behavior, and to provide rationality and coherence to behavior. The most important functions of the frontal lobe are:

Meta-thought

The frontal lobe is in charge of developing the ability to think in the abstract about the things that are present in the imagination. That is, it allows thinking about elements that are not being registered by the senses.

This type of thinking performed by the frontal lobe can include different degrees of abstraction. It concerns reasoning and attention about the way of thinking and is an activity widely used in cognitive psychotherapies.

Working memory management

The frontal lobe is responsible for carrying out working memory, that is, it develops a "transitory" memory of information related to aspects that take place in real time.

Injuries in this region of the brain cause alterations in working memory and multiple studies have shown that the frontal lobe is essential in learning processes.

Long-term ideation

The frontal lobe allows the activity of projecting past experiences in future situations. This procedure is carried out through rules and dynamics that have been learned over time.

This activity carried out by the frontal lobe allows people to establish objectives, goals and needs at points or moments notably distant from the present.

Planning

Related to previous activity, the temporal lobe is a basic structure for mental and behavioral planning. Thinking ahead allows you to imagine plans and strategies.

The frontal lobe not only creates possible future scenes in the mind of the person, but also allows navigation between the different thoughts, seeking personal goals and needs.

Behavioral control

MRI of the brain

The lower part of the frontal lobe, that is, the orbital area, is a brain region that is in constant relationship with the impulses that come from the limbic system (the deepest region of the brain that originates and develops emotions).

For this reason, one of the main functions of the frontal lobe is to dampen the effects of emotional impulses to avoid emotional or impulsive behaviors that may be inappropriate.

In short, the frontal lobe is a basic brain structure for self-control that allows the development of rational functioning and behavior.

Social cognition

Finally, the frontal lobes are basic structures for the development of social thought. These regions allow to attribute emotional and mental states to others. That is, they develop activities related to empathy.

This function of the frontal lobe aims to influence the behavior of the person and increase the relationship and social integration between individuals.

In fact, lesions in this region of the brain, such as those in the famous case of Phineas Gage, cause a notable alteration in social and interpersonal behavior, as well as in the emotional management and personality traits of the individual.

Parietal lobe

Parietal lobe

The parietal lobe is the area of ​​the cerebral cortex that is located in the area that falls under the parietal bone. That is, it is located in the middle and lateral parts of the head

This lobe is smaller than the frontal lobe and the temporal lobe, but larger than the occipital lobe and the insula.

Features

Its main function is to process sensory information that comes from different regions of the body. Sensations such as touch, temperature, pain or pressure are integrated and conceptualized in the parietal lobe.

On the other hand, recent research has shown that the parietal lobe plays an important role in number recognition, movement control, and integration of visual information from the occipital lobe.

Injuries to this area of ​​the brain often cause anesthesia to the arm and leg on the opposite side, sometimes with pain, sensory epilepsies, and imbalances of balance. The lesion on the left side of the parietal lobe, on the other hand, is related to difficulties in reading and performing mathematical calculations.

Temporal lobe

Temporal lobe

The temporal lobe is the second largest lobe of the cerebral cortex. It is located in front of the occipital lobe. Its upper part is bordered by the parietal lobe and anteriorly by the frontal lobe.

Roughly, this lobe is located behind each temple and plays an important role in the development of complex visual activities. For example, the temporal lobe is a basic brain structure for face recognition.

Features

On the other hand, the temporal lobe performs important functions related to hearing and language. During listening to speech or music, this brain region is responsible for deciphering information.

Likewise, the medial temporal lobe includes a system of structures related to declarative memory (conscious recall of fact and events). This structure involves the hippocampus region, and the adjacent perrinial, entorhinal, and parahippocampal cortices.

Injuries to this brain structure usually cause memory disturbances and difficulties in recognizing verbal and visual information.

Occipital lobe

Occipital lobe

The occipital is the smallest of the four main lobes of the cerebral cortex. It is located in the posterior area of ​​the skull, near the nape of the neck.

The occipital lobe is the first zone of the neocortex and is the center of the central orthimaxic nucleus of the visual system of perception. This region receives visual information from this area, and projects the corresponding information to other brain regions that are responsible for identification and transcription.

It is a region that is not very vulnerable to injury, since it is located in the back of the brain. However, severe trauma to the back of the skull can produce subtle changes in the visual-perceptual system.

Features

A small area of ​​the occipital lobe known as the Peristriate region is involved in visual spatial processing, movement discrimination, and color discrimination.

The injury to one of the two sides of the occipital lobe can cause the homonymous loss of vision, affecting the same cut field within both eyes. On the other hand, disorders originating in the occipital lobe are responsible for hallucinations and visual illusions.

The occipital lobe is divided into different areas, each of which is responsible for the processing of a series of specific functions. The most important ones are:

1. Elaboration of thought and emotion.
2. Interpretation of images.
3. View.
4. Spatial recognition.
5. Discrimination of movement and colors.

Insula

Insula

Finally, the insula, also known as the insular cortex, is a structure that is located deep in the lateral surface of the brain. Specifically, it is found within the Silvio sulcus, the region that separates the temporal lobe from the parietal lobe.

It is a small region that is found at the intersection between the temporal cortex and the parietal cortex, thus being located in the medial area of ​​the brain.

The insula differs from the other lobes by not being visible on the outside of the brain. This is covered by overlapping cortical regions known as the lining.

Features

The most anterior portion of the insular cortex is closely related to the limbic system. It appears that this region plays important roles in subjective emotional experience and its representation in the body.

In this sense, Antonio Damasio has proposed that the insula would be in charge of matching the emotional visceral states that are associated with the emotional experience, thus giving rise to the appearance of the feelings of consciousness.

On the other hand, certain investigations have postulated that the insula is responsible for processing the convergent information from the eyeballs, generating a genital response in the left hemisphere of the brain. This function would allow the creation of an emotionally relevant context for the sensory experience.

Finally, several experiments have shown that the insula plays an important role in the experience of pain and the experience of a large number of basic emotions, such as love, fear, disgust, happiness or sadness.

References

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