Brain Explain: The Lobes Of Life

The brain is a complex organ. It is literally in charge of how you think and behave and how all of your other organ systems work. That’s why your brain is arguably the most important organ of all the organs in our body. It’s made up of 3 main sections: the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the brain stem (John Hopkins Medicine, 2021). Let’s break it down.

The Cerebrum
The Cerebrum contains the lobes as we know them on both the left and the right hemisphere. (FUN FACT: The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body, and the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body!). The cerebrum covers the predominant portion of the brain, and performs the functions we most frequently associate with the brain.

The purpose of each of the four lobes in the cerebrum are as follows:
1) Frontal Lobe
The Frontal Lobe regulates emotions, behaviours, impulses, and truth suppression – yes, the frontal lobe is capable of dishonesty.

2) Parietal Lobe
The Parietal Lobe is responsible for external senses: namely touch, taste, and temperature (Medical News Today, 2021).

3) Temporal Lobe
The Temporal Lobe controls the creation and preservation of both conscious and long-term memory (Medical News Today, 2021).

4) Occipital Lobe
The Occipital Lobe interprets information from the eyes and is responsible for the functioning of visual effects on the eyes (Medical News Today, 2021).

The Cerebellum
The Cerebellum is located in the back of the brain. Its main function is to control balance, coordination and fine muscle control. Additionally, the cerebellum is crucial to maintaining posture and equilibrium throughout the body. Actions such as walking, standing still, and picking things up with our hands are made possible by this section at the back of our brain.

The Brain Stem
This is the part of the brain that connects it with the rest of the body! The brain stem contains three parts: the midbrain, the pons, and the medulla. They all work together to send signals from the brain to the body, via the nervous system, to control the fundamental body functions, such as breathing, eye movements, blood pressure, heartbeat, and swallowing. If the brain stem didn’t exist, the brain wouldn’t have any way of connecting with the rest of the body.
Think of it like an extension power cord. The brain is the power source, the body is the toaster, and the brain stem is the extension power cord that connects the two to make the toaster work.

The brain is a complex organ. And that’s why it is a good idea to understand the functions of the different parts of the brain before understanding how changes to the brain can result in different effects, such as disorders in the brain.

Reference List:
John Hopkins Medicine (2021). How the Brain Works. [Accessed 13 April 2021]. Available at:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/centers_clinics/brain_tumor/about-brain-tumors/how-the-brain-works.html#:~:text=The%20brain%20has%20three%20main,Brain%20stem

Medical News Today (2021). All about the parietal lobe. [Accessed 12 April 2021]. Available at:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/parietal-lobe#:~:text=The%20parietal%20lobe%20is%20one,to%20dysfunction%20in%20the%20senses.

Medical News Today (2021). Everything you need to know about the occipital lobe. [Accessed 12 April 2021]. Available at:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/occipital-lobe

Medical News Today (2021). What to know about the temporal lobe. [Accessed 12 April 2021]. Available at:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/temporal-lobe#:~:text=The%20temporal%20lobe%20is%20one,conscious%20and%20long%2Dterm%20memory

Featured image retrieved from:
https://erc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/styles/stories_detail_page/public/stories/images/human-brain.jpg?itok=xUdknRbR

Zac Cullen

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