BBB - The Lobes Lesson

Learning Target:

• Identify the contributions of key researchers to the study of the brain. 

AP psychology course and exam description, effective fall 2020. (n.d.). https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-psychology-course-and-exam-description.pdf

Lobes

The cerebral cortex is divided up into four lobes or areas. Each has a distinct function and is divided by fissures. Any areas of the cerebral cortex not dealing with our senses or muscle movement are called association areas.

Frontal Lobes

The frontal lobes are the largest of the four lobes involved in planning, emotional control, abstract thought, and the execution of voluntary movement. This is where our personality is located. Think back to Phineas Gage. The tamping iron severed his frontal lobes, causing a behavior change.

There are two specific areas within the frontal lobes that you should know:

1. Motor Cortex - The motor cortex is in the back of the frontal lobe and is a thin strip of tissue that sends motor messages to various body regions. You use your motor cortex every time you voluntarily move your body.
2. Broca's area - Broca's area controls the muscles in our mouth involved in speech and thus is crucial to speech production. If you damage this area, you will be able to understand written language but unable to talk. This is called Broca's aphasia.

Parietal Lobes

The parietal lobes are in the back of the frontal lobes on the top of our head. Most of the parietal lobes are made up of association areas. There is one structure that you should know for the AP exam, called the sensory cortex. The sensory cortex is responsible for feeling somatosensory information such as touch, temperature, pressure, and information from our muscles and joints.

Occipital Lobes

The occipital lobes are in the back of our head and contain our visual cortex. Visual information received is interpreted here in our retinas. Just like the cerebral cortex is contra-lateralized, so are our eyes. Information received in the right half of each retina is processed in the left occipital lobe, and information received in the left half of each retina is processed in the right occipital lobe. Damage to your occipital lobe could cause blindness.

Temporal Lobes

The temporal lobes are on both sides of our heads near the temples. They contain the auditory cortex and control our hearing. One important structure in our temporal lobes that you should know is Wernicke's area. Wernicke's area is responsible for understanding written speech and language. Damage to this area, called Wernicke's aphasia, would cause you to be unable to understand spoken or written communication.

Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke

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