| Area of the Brain |
Function |
Observed Problems When Injury Occurs in this Region |
Frontal LobesThe frontal lobes of the brain are very vulnerable to injury
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Primarily responsible for putting things in order and sorting things out.The “executive functions” of the brain are controlled by the frontal lobes.
- Initiation (starting a task)
- Problem solving
- Judgment
- Inhibition of behaviour
- Planning
- Emotional responses
- Awareness of abilities/limitations
- Concentration and attention
- Abstract thinking
- Foresight
- Speech
- Gross and fine motor planning.
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- Loss of simple movement of various body parts
- Inability to plan a sequence of multi stepped tasks
- Loss of spontaneous interactions with peers
- Loss of flexibility in thinking
- Persistence of a single thought (perseveration)
- Inability to focus on task
- Mood changes
- Changes in social behavior
- Changes in personality
- Difficulty with problem solving
- Inability to express language
- Inability to perceive emotions or feelings in other
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Parietal Lobes 
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Primarily responsible for the sense of touch and the ability to have a sense of body position.
- Sense of hot/cold
- Sense of hard/soft
- Self-perception
- Visual attention
- Manipulation of objects
- Constructional ability
- Words and thought formation (left parietal lobe)
- Understanding of the spatial nature of the world such as recognizing faces and shapes and knowing directions (right parietal lobe)
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- Inability to attend to more than one thing at a time
- Inability to name an object
- Inability to locate words for writing
- Problems with reading
- Difficulty with drawing objects
- Difficulty distinguishing left from right
- Difficulty doing mathematics
- Lack of awareness of certain body parts or surrounding space
- Inability to focus visual attention
- Difficulty with eye and hand coordination
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Temporal Lobes
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Primarily responsible for the auditory reception (hearing) and some processing of visual information.
- Sound recognition
- Sound discrimination
- Sound comprehension
- Voice recognition
- Auditory and visual memory storage
- Emotional control
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- Difficulty recognizing faces
- Difficulty understanding spoken words
- Disturbances with selective attention to what we see and hear
- Difficulty identifying and naming/describing objects
- Short term memory loss
- Interferences with long term memory
- Increased or decreased interest in sexual behavior
- Inability to categorize objects
- Increased aggressive behavior
- Right lobe damage can cause persistent talking
- ·Expression of intense emotions(e.g. intense anger at the slightest provocation)
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Occipital Lobes (www.neuroskills.com) |
Responsible for visual reception.
- Recognition of objects
- Visual scanning
- Effectively integrate symbols
- Recall of visual images
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- Visual field impairments
- Difficulty with locating objects in the environment
- Difficulty with identifying colours
- Production of visual hallucinations
- Word blindness – inability to recognize words
- Difficulty in recognizing drawn objects
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Cerebellum 
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Primarily responsible for regulation of balance, breathing and posture.
- Coordination of voluntary movement
- Balance and equilibrium
- Some memory for reflex motor actions
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- Loss of ability to coordinate fine movements
- Loss of ability to walk
- Inability to reach out and grab objects
- Tremors
- Dizziness
- Slurred speech
- Inability to make rapid movements
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