Lobes of The Brain and Their Function

The brain is the most complex organ of the human body. With over an estimated 50 - 100 billion neurons in it, the brain ticks and works in ways that is still a mystery to many neurologists. The scientific study of the brain and the nervous system is called neurobiology or neuroscience. The brain is a part of the central nervous system along with the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) which is made of nerves. The nervous system plays the role of controlling every aspect of our life; from simple memorization to critical thinking, from lifting a pin, to voluntary smooth functioning of all the other organs in the body. Of all the parts of the brain, the cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain, which is further sub-divided into four lobes; frontal lobe, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, and temporal lobe. Below is a brief overview about the lobes of the brain and their functions.

Lobes of the Brain Diagram


4 Lobes of the Brain and their Functions

Frontal Lobe
The frontal lobe is home to our cognitive thinking, and it is this process that determines and shapes an individual's personality. In human beings, the frontal lobe attains maturity when the individual is around the age of 25. This means that by the time we are 25 years of age, we have achieved a level of cognitive maturity. The frontal lobe is extremely vulnerable to injury due to its location as it's in front of the central cranium. The frontal lobe is made up of the anterior portion (prefrontal cortex) and the posterior portion, and is divided from the parietal lobe by the central sulcus. The anterior portion is responsible for higher cognitive functions, and the posterior portion consists of the premotor and motor areas, thus, governing our voluntary movements. The functions of the frontal lobe include reasoning, planning, organizing thoughts, behavior, sexual urges, emotions, problem-solving, judging, and organizing parts of speech and motor skills (movement).

Parietal Lobe
The parietal lobe is located behind the central sulcus, and above the occipital lobe. It has four anatomical boundaries; the central sulcus, which separates the parietal lobe from the frontal lobe, the parieto-occipital sulcus which separates the parietal and occipital lobes, the lateral sulcus which separates the parietal from the temporal lobe, and the medial longitudinal fissure which divides the two hemispheres (right and left). The parietal lobe is responsible for integrating sensory information from various parts of the body. The optic nerves pass through the parietal lobe to the occipital lobe. The functions of the parietal lobe include information processing, movement, spatial orientation, speech, visual perception, recognition, perception of stimuli, pain and touch sensation, cognition. Any damage to the parietal lobes result in abnormalities in spatial processing.

Occipital Lobe
The smallest of all the four lobes, the occipital lobes are located in the rearmost portion of the skull and because of their location, they are not particularly vulnerable to injury, although significant trauma can disrupt the visual-perceptual system. Disorders of the occipital lobe can cause visual illusions. Occipital lobe is located on the tentorium cerebelli, that separates the cerebrum from the cerebellum. It is responsible for visual perception system, as it contains the primary visual cortex. The functions of the occipital lobe include visual reception, visual-spatial processing, movement and color recognition.

Temporal Lobe
There are two temporal lobes, each of which are located on each side of the brain; left and right, at about the level of the ears. The temporal lobes contain the primary auditory cortex, and hence, are responsible for all auditory processing. These lobes also contain the hippocampus, responsible for formation of long-term memory and sorting new information. The functions of both (left and right) temporal lobes include distinguishing and discrimination of smell and sound from other smells and sounds respectively. Between them, they control visual memory (right lobe) and verbal memory (left lobe), and thus, hearing, speech and memory. More information about the brain:

• Diagram of the Brain and its Functions
• Brain Anatomy and Parts of the Brain
• Facts on the Human Brain

Lobes of the brain and their function play an important role in determining who we are and the reasons behind our perceptions. So, now to answer the query, how many lobes of the brain are there and what are the four lobes of the brain called? There are four lobes in the brain, and they are called the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and the temporal lobe.