Brain Injury

1. Description of Brain Parts

2.                 ParietalLobe Language Touch Perception Touch Vision • The parietal lobe contains an area known as the primary sensory area. This is where impulses from the skin, such as warmth, cold, pain, and touch, are interpreted. Just like the primary motor area in the frontal lobe, the more sensory input that comes from an area of the body (like the fingers), the more surface area of the parietal lobe is involved in the processing of that information. • The parietal lobe is also an essential element of spatial information, which gives us the ability to judge size, distance, and shapes. A specific triangular-shaped area known as the parietal association cortex gives us the ability to understand written language and solve mathematical problems. • The left hemisphere of the parietal lobe is often more active in right-handed people. This lobe is known for handling the symbolism of letters and numbers. The right hemisphere tends to be more active in left-handed people and helps with the interpretation of images and spatial distances within them, such as those that exist in maps. Regardless of handedness, people are not “right brained” or “left brained”; we use both sides of our parietal lobe.

3. Occipital Lobe Colour identification • The occipital lobes are the center of our visual perception system. They are not particularly vulnerable to injury because of their location at the back of the brain, although any significant trauma to the brain could produce subtle changes to our visual-perceptual system, such as visual field defects and scotomas. The Peristriate region of the occipital lobe is involved in visuospatial processing, discrimination of movement and color discrimination (Westmoreland et al., 1994). Damage to one side of the occipital lobe causes homonomous loss of vision with exactly the same "field cut" in both eyes. Disorders of the occipital lobe can cause visual hallucinations and illusions. Visual hallucinations (visual images with no external stimuli) can be caused by lesions to the occipital region or temporal lobe seizures. Visual illusions (distorted perceptions) can take the form of objects appearing larger or smaller than they actually are, objects lacking color or objects having abnormal coloring. Lesions in the parietal-temporal-occipital association area can cause word blindness with writing impairments (alexia and agraphia) (Kandel, Schwartz & Jessell, 1991).

4. Cerebellum Coordination Balance and posture Movement • The cerebellum receives information from the sensory systems, the spinal cord, and other parts of the brain and then regulates motor movements. The cerebellum coordinates voluntary movements such as posture, balance, coordination, and speech, resulting in smooth and balanced muscular activity. It is also important for learning motor behaviors. • It is a relatively small portion of the brain — about ten percent of the total weight, but it contains roughly half of the brain’s neurons, specialized cells that transmit information via electrical signals. • The cerebellum is not unique to humans. Evolutionarily speaking, it is an older portion of the brain. It is present in animals that scientists believe existed before humans. • Damage to the cerebellum, while not causing paralysis or intellectual impairment, might lead to a lack of balance, slower movements, and tremors (shaking). Complex physical tasks would become unsteady and halting. This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

5. Brain Stem A brainstem is a small, hidden piece of brain that does not get as much love as it should. Even with the recent explosion in brain research, other parts of the brain get more attention and therefore are better understood. But the fact is, neither the rest of the brain nor any part of the body could continue to function without the brainstem working at peak condition The brainstem is at the base of the brain, slightly in front of the cerebrum. You can think of it as the place where the spinal cord plugs into the brain, in the center of the brain between the two hemispheres. It provides a connecting bridge between the cerebrum, the lobe at the lower back of the brain, and the cerebellum, the larger upper lobe in each hemisphere. Heart rate Temperature Breathing

6. Temporal lobe Feelings Memory Learning Hearing • The proximity to your temples and your ears gives you a clue to one of the main functions of the temporal lobe: processing and understanding sound. • Auditory processing: One of the major functions of the temporal lobe is to receive any sound/auditory signals, process those signals and tell you what they mean. • For example, you could be taking a walk and hear a bird chirping. Your ear gets a signal of that bird's chirp in the form of a certain frequency and pitch of sound. Your temporal lobe will then receive that signal, process the sound and "tell" you that it is a bird chirping. • Speech/language recognition: If the temporal lobe is responsible for processing sound, it makes sense that it is also responsible for something else you hear: language. A complex within the temporal lobe called the auditory complex is responsible for helping you hear speech, understand what's being said, understand the names of people and objects and more. • Speech generation: Besides helping you understand and process speech, sound and language, the temporal lobe is also responsible for helping you speak. The temporal lobe and other parts of the brain work together to help you process and understand visual information, and the temporal lobe also helps you actually speak the words you want to say. • For example, you look at a table and think "table." The temporal lobe helps you actually say, "That's a table" out loud instead of just thinking it. • Memory: The other major function of the temporal lobe is memory, specifically auditory, olfactory and visual memories. The temporal lobe works with the limbic system (the hippocampus and the amygdala) to form and store memories both short- and long-term. • The temporal lobe also helps you connect senses to your memories. For example, a certain smell might remind you of a memory you have from your childhood. • This lobe is also responsible for helping you remember verbal, visual and auditory information. This includes processing and remembering what body language means, what certain words mean, object recognition and understanding, and more. • Visual understanding: While other parts of the brain, mainly the occipital lobe, are the main processors of your vision and visual stimuli, it's the temporal lobe that helps you process and analyze that information. So while the occipital lobe and other parts of the brain allow you to see a dog or a ball or an acorn, it's the temporal lobe that helps you remember and name those things.

7. Frontal Lobe The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that controls important cognitive skills in humans, such as emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and sexual behaviors. It is, in essence, the “control panel” of our personality and our ability to communicate. It is also responsible for primary motor function, or our ability to consciously move our muscles, and the two key areas related to speech, including Broca’s area. The frontal lobe is larger and more developed in humans than in any other organism. As its name indicates, the frontal lobe is at the front of the brain. The right hemisphere of the frontal lobe controls the left part of the body, and vice versa. The frontal lobe is also the most common place for brain injury to occur. Damage to the frontal lobe can create changes in personality, limited facial expressions, and difficulty in interpreting one’s environment, such as not being able to adequately assess risk and danger • Thinking • Planning • Behavior • Emotions • Movement