Neuroscience for Kids - Lobes of the Brain

Lobes of the Brain

The average human brain weighsabout 1,400 gm (3 lb). When the brain is removed from the skull, it looksa bit like a large pinkish-gray walnut. The braincan bedivided down the middle lengthwise into two halves called the cerebralhemispheres. Each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is dividedinto four lobes by various sulci and gyri...the sulci (or fissures) are the groovesand the gyri are the "bumps" that can be seen on the surface of thebrain. The folding of the cerebral cortex produced by these bumps andgrooves increases the amount of cerebral cortex that can fit in theskull. (In fact, the total surface area of the cerebral cortex is about324 square inches - about the size of a full page of newspaper!).Althoughmost people have the same patterns of gyri andsulci on the cerebral cortex, no two brains are exactlyalike.

OCCIPITALLOBE
Located at the back of the brain, behind the parietal lobe andtemporal lobe.
Concerned with many aspects of vision.
FRONTAL LOBE

Locatedin front of the central sulcus.
Concerned with reasoning, planning,parts of speech and movement (motor cortex), emotions, andproblem-solving.
Find out more about the frontal lobe with the story of Phineas Gage - an unlucky worker in 1848 who survived an iron rod that went through his head!! Another account about Mr. Gage and the frontal lobe can be found in this story called A ShortHistory of the Lobotomy.
TEMPORALLOBE
Located belowthe lateral fissure.
Concerned with perception and recognitionof auditory stimuli (hearing) and memory (hippocampus).
PARIETALLOBE
Located behind the central sulcus.
Concernedwith perception of stimuli related to touch, pressure, temperature andpain.

Hear IT! Gyri Gyrus Sulcus Sulci

Hear IT!	Gyri	Gyrus	Sulcus	Sulci

Did youknow?

1998 marked the 150th Anniversary of the injury to Mr.Phineas Gage. Find out more about poor Mr. Gage.

The skull of Phineas Gage.
Image courtesy of the National Library of Medicine, History ofMedicine Collection

Take a short review quiz about the lobes ofthe brain.

Learn more about the frontal lobes in an article called Unraveling the Mystery of theFrontal Lobes.

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Exploring theNervous System


OCCIPITALLOBE Located at the back of the brain, behind the parietal lobe andtemporal lobe. Concerned with many aspects of vision.	FRONTAL LOBE Locatedin front of the central sulcus. Concerned with reasoning, planning,parts of speech and movement (motor cortex), emotions, andproblem-solving. Find out more about the frontal lobe with the story of Phineas Gage - an unlucky worker in 1848 who survived an iron rod that went through his head!! Another account about Mr. Gage and the frontal lobe can be found in this story called A ShortHistory of the Lobotomy.
TEMPORALLOBE Located belowthe lateral fissure. Concerned with perception and recognitionof auditory stimuli (hearing) and memory (hippocampus).	PARIETALLOBE Located behind the central sulcus. Concernedwith perception of stimuli related to touch, pressure, temperature andpain.