The two main structures of the frontal lobe:
1) Prefrontal Cortex
The Prefrontal Cortex controls abstract thinking and behavior. This part of the frontal lobe is involved with deciding on the right choices, predicting outcomes, regulating behavior, and taking in data from the body's senses. By delaying gratification of needs, the prefrontal cortex encourages acceptable choices. It balances immediate rewards with long term goals. It also controls social control and suppresses emotional or sexual urges. This area is most strongly shown in qualities like personality. These are some functions of the prefrontal cortex:
- Helps in regulating thoughts for both short-term and long-term memory
- Allows to plan ahead
- Create strategies
- Adjust actions in situations
- Focuses thought
- Enables you to pay attention
- Working memory
The prefrontal cortex can be broken into many parts, but the dorsolateral area, orbitofrontal area, and ventromedial area are the three important. (5)
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex plays a key role in working memory. It is interconnected with other brain regions and send/receives inputs to/from sensory brain regions. This part of the prefrontal cortex is involved in the preparation of actions in short-term memory. (15)
Some primary functions are:
DID YOU KNOW?
Researchers can use a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Area to prevent a person's ability to lie or tell the truth. (18)
Some primary functions are:
- Decision making
- Working memory
- Involved in the act of lying
DID YOU KNOW?
Researchers can use a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Area to prevent a person's ability to lie or tell the truth. (18)
Orbitofrontal Prefrontal Cortex contains secondary taste cortex and olfactory cortical areas. This part receives information about the way objects look, and neurons in this part reverse the visual stimulus. This is an example of stimulus-reinforcement association learning.
Stimulus= Visual or Olfactory stimulus
Primary (unlearned) reinforcer= Taste or Touch
Some primary functions are:
Damage to this area can impair learning, identifying face expressions, and reversal of stimulus-reinforcement associations. (16)
Stimulus= Visual or Olfactory stimulus
Primary (unlearned) reinforcer= Taste or Touch
Some primary functions are:
- Gives information about faces
- Decoding taste and touch
- Creation of pleasurable sensations
- Reversing associations of visual and other stimuli
- Controlling reward and punishment related behavior
- Involved in motivational behavior, emotional behavior, social behavior
Damage to this area can impair learning, identifying face expressions, and reversal of stimulus-reinforcement associations. (16)
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex is part of the prefrontal cortex that receives input from the Limbic system. This area of the brain is involved in decision-making and personality.
Some primary functions are:
DID YOU KNOW?
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is the last part of the brain to finish developing. (22)
Some primary functions are:
- Planning
- Emotional control
- Judgement
DID YOU KNOW?
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is the last part of the brain to finish developing. (22)
2) Motor Area
The Motor Cortex, located in the rear part of the frontal lobe, is most involved in controlling voluntary movements. Almost all behavior involves motor function, even if it's a simple movement, like picking up a glass of water, it's still very complicated. Your brain has to figure out so many things at one time just to make one movement. (25)
These are some functions of the motor cortex:
There are two types of motor neurons in the spine:
The motor cortex is divided into two main areas that both send information to the primary motor cortex:
These are some functions of the motor cortex:
- Walking
- Talking
- Gesturing
- Orient and encode the direction of movement
There are two types of motor neurons in the spine:
- Alpha motor neurons stimulate skeletal muscles that contribute to force production (voluntary control).
- Gamma motor neurons innervate fibers within the muscle spindie (involuntary control).
The motor cortex is divided into two main areas that both send information to the primary motor cortex:
- Premotor cortex
- Supplementary motor cortex
1) Premotor Cortex helps guide body movements by integrating sensory information, and it controls muscles. It is located anterior to the precentral gyrus, occupying Brodmann's area 6. This area is made up of interconnected areas within the motor cortex, and sends messages that direct movement to accomplish tasks. The premotor area has two areas that are connected by neural pathways to it (24).
- Lateral- Directs physical movement in response to external stimulus
- Medial- Responds to internal stimulus from the brain itself
- coordination of learned motor activities
- coordinates several muscle groups simultaneously
- memory bank for skilled motor activities
- involved in planning movement
2) Supplementary Motor Cortex helps the brain plan complex movements and coordinate movements involving both hands. This area is located above the premotor area. The supplementary motor cortex selects and plans complex movements based on memory. (26)
DID YOU KNOW?
"In 1870, Hitzig and Fritsch electrically stimulated various parts of a dog's motor cortex. They observed that depending on what part of the cortex they stimulated, a different part of the body contracted. Then they found that if they destroyed this same small area of the cortex, the corresponding part of the body became paralyzed. This is how it was discovered that every part of the body has a particular region of the primary motor cortex that controls its movement." (23)
DID YOU KNOW?
"In 1870, Hitzig and Fritsch electrically stimulated various parts of a dog's motor cortex. They observed that depending on what part of the cortex they stimulated, a different part of the body contracted. Then they found that if they destroyed this same small area of the cortex, the corresponding part of the body became paralyzed. This is how it was discovered that every part of the body has a particular region of the primary motor cortex that controls its movement." (23)