Lecture on Parts of the Brain

Overview

• Focus on the outer, evolutionarily recent part of the brain.
• Key focus on the Frontal Lobe.

Frontal Lobe

• Associated with:
  • Planning ability
  • Impulse control
• Impulse control disorders:
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Eating disorders
  • ADHD (related hypothesis)
• Maturity of impulse control:
  • Takes about 25 years to reach maturity.
  • Under 25: struggle with impulse control is common.

Case Study: Phineas Gage

• Historical case crucial to understanding brain function.
• Incident:
  • Railroad worker in the 1850s
  • Accidental explosion: bar shot through his frontal lobe
• Consequences:
  • Severe impact on impulse control
  • Personality changes: Ruder, impatient
  • Loss of job and functioning
• Importance: Illustrated role of frontal lobe in impulse control.

Other Lobes of the Brain

• Parietal Lobe:
  • Synthesizes information from other lobes
  • Recognizes faces (right side)
• Occipital Lobe:
  • Primary visual processing
  • Location of visual awareness
• Temporal Lobe:
  • Related to language and hearing

Complex Disorders

• Disorders like schizophrenia and Tourette's:
  • Too complex to be explained by a single brain part.
  • Not simply caused by frontal lobe activity.

Upcoming Lecture

• Focus on the Limbic System
• Located deeper within the brain.