Study of the frontal lobe

Study of the Frontal Lobe
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Study of the Frontal Lobe
The frontal lobe composes of cortices divided into Brodmann areas that are numbered as areas 4, 6, 8, 10-14, 24-32 and 454-49. Among them, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex occupies Brodmann area 46-49 while the ventromedial prefrontal cortex covers a series of Brodmann areas such as 10, 14, 25 and 32. The other cortices are the primary motor cortex (B.A. 4), Premotor cortex (B.A. 6), the cingulate cortex (B.A 24-32) and the orbitofrontal cortex (B.A 10-14). The most massive cortex among those in the frontal lobe is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. It is positioned superior to the orbitofrontal cortex.
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is the largest that involves multiple sensory modalities. It enables the body to utilize inputs from the visual and auditory pathways, including other neuro-sensory functions. It also has a cognitive function, since it is the “working memory,” where it generates complex cognition. When the area is damaged, the patient presents with five main symptoms. They include the patients depicting poor recall and the inability to organize learning, where the patient, in that case, has a wrong sequence of ideas that have been recently learned. Also, there is difficulty in integrating the sensory information provided, where the patient is unable to reconstruct a dismantled structure (Seminowicz & Moayedi, 2017). There is also the difficulty in generating the appropriate responses, besides the frustration of coming up with multiple responses.

The principal neurotransmitter involved in the region is dopamine. The other areas incorporated are the prefrontal cortex, thalamus, striatum, hippocampus, the amygdala, the posterior cingulate gyrus, the insula and the anterior cingulate gyrus (Pochon et al., 2001).
The orbitofrontal cortex lies inferior to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The region has a role in the modulation of social behavior, the discrimination of scent and the regulation of “working memory” for future information. Its input arises from the limbic system, the olfactory system, the visual pathways (ventral) and the inferotemporal lobe, which facilitates the formation of memories. Destruction of the brain area causes the patient to display socially abnormal behavior, particularly on neurological exam. The main neurotransmitters are dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. The other regions involved are the olfactory system, the limbic systems, and the visual pathway.
At the bottom of the cerebral hemispheres of the brain in the frontal lobe, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex occupies Brodmann areas 10, 14, 25 and 32. Its primary function is in the processing fear and risk. It is also involved in the decision-making process, the control of emotions, creating an association between the mental objects and the physical nature and lastly, determining gender-related clauses. A patient with an injury to this region of the brain will present with an impaired personal and social decision making ability despite the preservation of their intellectual capacity. They might also retain the ability to make the correct moral judgments. On the other hand, others may use emotions to regulate behavior changes. They may fail to control anger and mostly arise scenes of violence. Others may express an absolute lack of empathy and lack of responsibility. Other regions associated are the temporal lobe, the hypothalamus lateral aspect, the amygdala and the hippocampus. The hormones associated are corticotropin-releasing hormone and serotonin (Motzkin et al., 2015).
In summary, the frontal lobe has significant roles in cognition. The tasks range from aiding in understanding sensory stimulation, decision-making and the partial control of emotions among others. The cortices of the frontal lobe are associated with separate regions such as the amygdala, the thalamus, the hippocampus, the temporal lobe, the olfactory and the limbic systems. The neurotransmitters that are linked to the different areas include serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine and the corticotropin-releasing hormone among others. When most of the regions of the frontal lobe are damaged, the result is an impairment in behavior, cognition, decision making and regulating of emotions.
References
Motzkin, J. C., et al., (2015). Ventromedial prefrontal cortex is critical for the regulation of amygdala activity in humans. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4145052/Pochon, J., et al., (2001). Role of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in the Preparation of Forthcoming Actions: an fMRI Study | Cerebral Cortex | Oxford Academic. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/11/3/260/265547Seminowicz, D. A., & Moayedi, M. (2017). The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Acute and Chronic Pain. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28400293