Research: Frontal Lobe

What is the frontal lobe? The frontal lobe is one of five lobes of your brain. This section of your brain works cooperatively with many other brain areas, giving you a wide range of abilities. Anything you do that involves thinking or conscious action relies on abilities contained within your frontal lobe.

Function Reasoning: This includes simple and complex processing of information. Logic, reasoning, judgment, decision-making and creativity all fall into this category.Social understanding: Your frontal lobe controls your understanding of social norms and helps determine what you should and shouldn’t do or say.Executive functions: Some examples of these include self-control and inhibitions, attention span and working memory.Voluntary muscle movements: These are intentional movements, such as moving your hand to pick something up or moving your legs to stand up and walk around. Your frontal lobe also contains the brain area that controls the muscles you use for speaking.Learning and recalling information: This is your brain’s ability to process and learn new information for later use. Your frontal lobe also helps retrieve information later. What does the frontal lobe do? Your frontal lobe handles many abilities, including:

Anatomy Neurons: These are the cells in your brain and nerves that can send or relay signals to other neurons. The signals travel as electricity, or “impulses” inside your neurons. Your neurons convert the electrical signals into chemicals that are released outside of the neuron. The next neuron detects the chemicals and triggers another impulse. In this way, a message travels quickly within and across neurons.Glial cells: These are your nervous system’s support cells. They don’t manage signals. Instead, they maintain the neurons by clearing waste matter, providing nutrients and offering structural support. Where is the frontal lobe located? As the name suggests, the frontal lobe is at the front of your head. It’s the section of your brain just behind your forehead. How big is the frontal lobe? Experts estimate that the frontal lobe makes up between 25% and 40% of your brain’s cerebral cortex. (The estimated range is wider because your brain doesn’t have clear boundaries between areas, so different studies used different ways to define the boundaries.) The word “cortex” comes from Latin and means “tree bark.” The cortex is the wrinkly-textured outer surface of your brain. What is the frontal lobe made of? Your frontal lobe consists of the same specialized cells found throughout your brain. The basic cell types are:

Conditions and Disorders Personality changes.Trouble with reasoning, paying attention, organizing, planning or switching your attention between two tasks.Executive dysfunction.Difficulty controlling your impulses, including what you say or do.Certain forms of amnesia (memory loss).Trouble with moving certain muscles, including muscles you use to talk. What common conditions and disorders affect the frontal lobe? Any condition that can affect your brain tissue can affect your frontal lobe. There are also some neurodevelopmental (brain development-related) conditions that specifically involve frontal lobe effects and symptoms. Conditions and symptoms that can affect your frontal lobe include: Alzheimer’s disease.Expressive aphasia (also known as Broca’s aphasia, which affects how you talk, but not what you say).Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Autism spectrum disorder.Brain lesions (either from diseases or with damage from surgery or medical procedures).Brain tumors (including cancer).Carbon monoxide poisoning.Concussions and other traumatic brain injuries.Corticobasal degeneration.Frontotemporal dementia (including conditions like Pick’s disease).Genetic conditions (such as Huntington’s disease or Wilson’s disease).Headaches and migraines.Heavy metal poisoning or other toxins.Infections (including those that cause encephalitis).Mental health conditions, such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders and personality disorders.Lewy body dementia.Seizures (especially frontal lobe seizures) and seizure-related conditions such as epilepsy.Stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA).What are some common signs or symptoms of frontal lobe conditions? There are dozens (if not more) of possible signs and symptoms of frontal lobe conditions. These signs and symptoms can vary widely for two reasons: Your frontal lobe manages many different abilities.Many different conditions can affect your temporal lobe.While the list of symptoms that can affect your frontal lobe is long, there are a few types of symptoms that are especially common. These include: