(b) The functions of the frontal lobe include personality, behavior,
intellectual functioning, creative thinking, morals, ethics, and level of consciousness.
(c) The precentral gyrus, within the frontal lobe and directly in front of
the central sulcus, initiates and controls voluntary muscle movements (motor function).
Impulses originating here travel along motor pathways through the spinal cord and
stimulate skeletal muscles on the opposite side of the body. (This is important to
remember when correlating clinical symptoms with associated cerebral damage.) The
percentral gyrus also contains Broca's speech center, which is involved in the motor
activities necessary for speech.
(2)
Parietal lobes.
(a) The parietal lobes are located beneath the parietal bones of the
skull. They are posterior to the central sulcus and superior to the lateral fissure.
(b) The functions of the parietal lobes include comprehension of written
and spoken language, discrimination of fine touch, and stereogenesis. Sterogenesis is
the ability to recognize, by touch alone, the size, shape, texture, and consistency of
objects.
(c) The postcentral gyrus, within the parietal lobes and directly behind
the central sulcus, controls and interprets sensations from the opposite side of the body.
These sensations include pain, heat, cold, and pressure.
(3)
Temporal lobes.
(a) The temporal lobes are located beneath the temporal bones of the
skull and inferior to the lateral fissure.
(b) The functions of the temporal lobes include taste, smell, balance,
and hearing. (The perception of sound as well as the interpretation of sound as words.)
(c) The area of the brain concerned with the comprehension of both
written and spoken language (Wernicke's area) is located in both the parietal and
temporal lobes.
(4)
Occipital lobe.
(a) The occipital lobe is located beneath the occipital bone of the skull,
at the posterior of the cerebrum behind the parietal lobes.
(b) The occipital lobe receives and interprets visual stimuli.
MD0919
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