The frontal lobe of the brain is the emotional and personality control center for a person’s mind and body, which is responsible for how a person acts and reacts to information, other people, and situations in life. The frontal lobe is extremely vulnerable and easily injured due to its location within the body, and the over-all large size of the entire frontal lobe. Below are numerous facts about frontal lobe damage including: body and mind function involvement, causes, effects and methods of diagnosis.  

 

The frontal lobe controls the following:

Drive; Mood; Memory; Attention; Initiation; Language; Judgment; Spontaneity; Motor function; Impulse control; Problem solving; Social behavior; Feeling of empathy and sympathy; Mental planning and execution and Ability to understand humor, irony, sarcasm and dishonesty.

 

Causes

The average cause of frontal lobe brain damage is a result of major or mild head trauma in which a person’s head collides against another object with extreme force. When a person suffers major head trauma the brain actually slams against the inside walls of the skull during the accident. In the case when a person suffers a mild head injury, classified as a brief loss of consciousness and/or loss of memory before and after a head injury, the person often appears uninjured, but later suffers from unexplained negative actions, thoughts and personality changes.

 

Effects

Professionals once believed that brain injuries, especially in regards to children, naturally recover in time. It is true that other parts of the brain will compensate for non-functioning portions, but severely damaged areas of the brain often do not recover. Evidence now shows when people suffer a severe brain injury, especially children, the effect often does not manifest until several years after the person seems to recover. In some cases the effects of head trauma continue to progress in severity as more time passes. Because the frontal lobe is such a large size, and contains numerous sections, the amount of possible implications a person with frontal lobe brain damage could suffer is significant.

 

Below are possible effects of Frontal Lobe Brain Damage:

1) Mood and personality changes such as excessive sleeping or restlessness; lack of spontaneity; inability to plan ahead, and lack of concern for anything, especially the future.

2) Inability to interpret external input and adjust behavior accordingly, excessive risk taking, and inability to comply or conform to established rules.

3) Difficulty communicating in regards to speaking too much or not enough, and inaudible or incoherent speech patterns.

4) Improper motor functions such as lack of arm, hand and finger strength, lack of or impaired facial expressions, balance and coordination complications.

5) Lack of information processing such as not having the ability to understand when a person is being dishonest or deceitful, unable to understand the experiences, emotions, and feelings of another person, and difficulty in problem solving, especially in regards to mathematics and questions or tasks that require multiple steps.

6) Lack of attention and memory consisting of limited amount of short-term memory, and altered or distorted long-term memory.

7) A non-Alzheimer’s type of dementia in which a person will develop relationship, and communication problems with other people, lose personal insight, show signs of manic-type behavior, and experience a decline in the ability to recall memories.

 

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of frontal lobe brain damage is often very difficult with symptoms often described through a different disorder. The ability to diagnose children is even more difficult since most effects do not become noticeable until numerous years later. If a person suffers from frontal lobe brain damage, it is best to consult a doctor who specializes in head trauma. There are numerous tests that measure a person’s thinking, response, motor, and communication skills. In most cases, a frontal lobe injury will have no negative results on IQ scores. The best way to receive a proper diagnosis is to have a professional perform an MRI, CAT, or PET scan, which will provide an accurate detailed picture of healthy and diminished portions of the brain.

 

Copyright © 2016, John Mallozzi