Trevor Delzer information on frontal lobes

[Guest guest]

I could not believe this when I read it.

It makes since that his issues with the frontal lobes could be causing all of

Trevor's symptoms. irritability; seizures; tremors; positioning of his arm and

hand; speech slurring;cold sweats

The frontal lobes are considered our emotional control center and home to our

personality. There is no other part of the brain where lesions can cause such a

wide variety of symptoms (Kolb & Wishaw, 1990). The frontal lobes are involved

in motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation,

judgement, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior. The frontal lobes

are extremely vulnerable to injury due to their location at the front of the

cranium, proximity to the sphenoid wing and their large size. MRI studies have

shown that the frontal area is the most common region of injury following mild

to moderate traumatic brain injury (Levin et al., 1987).

There are important asymmetrical differences in the frontal lobes. The left

frontal lobe is involved in controlling language related movement, whereas the

right frontal lobe plays a role in non-verbal abilities. Some researchers

emphasize that this rule is not absolute and that with many people, both lobes

are involved in nearly all behavior.

Disturbance of motor function is typically characterized by loss of fine

movements and strength of the arms, hands and fingers (Kuypers, 1981). Complex

chains of motor movement also seem to be controlled by the frontal lobes

(Leonard et al., 1988). Patients with frontal lobe damage exhibit little

spontaneous facial expression, which points to the role of the frontal lobes in

facial expression (Kolb & Milner, 1981). Broca's Aphasia, or difficulty in

speaking, has been associated with frontal damage by Brown (1972).

An interesting phenomenon of frontal lobe damage is the insignificant effect it

can have on traditional IQ testing. Researchers believe that this may have to do

with IQ tests typically assessing convergent rather than divergent thinking.

Frontal lobe damage seems to have an impact on divergent thinking, or

flexibility and problem solving ability. There is also evidence showing

lingering interference with attention and memory even after good recovery from a

TBI (Stuss et al., 1985).

Another area often associated with frontal damage is that of " behavioral

sponteneity. " Kolb & Milner (1981) found that individual with frontal damage

displayed fewer spontaneous facial movements, spoke fewer words (left frontal

lesions) or excessively (right frontal lesions).

One of the most common characteristics of frontal lobe damage is difficulty in

interpreting feedback from the environment. Perseverating on a response (Milner,

1964), risk taking, and non-compliance with rules (, 1985), and impaired

associated learning (using external cues to help guide behavior) (Drewe, 1975)

are a few examples of this type of deficit.

The frontal lobes are also thought to play a part in our spatial orientation,

including our body's orientation in space (Semmes et al., 1963).

One of the most common effects of frontal damage can be a dramatic change in

social behavior. A person's personality can undergo significant changes after an

injury to the frontal lobes, especially when both lobes are involved. There are

some differences in the left versus right frontal lobes in this area. Left

frontal damage usually manifests as pseudodepression and right frontal damage as

pseudopsychopathic (Blumer and Benson, 1975).

Sexual behavior can also be effected by frontal lesions. Orbital frontal damage

can introduce abnormal sexual behavior, while dorolateral lesions may reduce

sexual interest ( and Blummer, 1975).

Some common tests for frontal lobe function are: Wisconsin Card Sorting

(response inhibition); Finger Tapping (motor skills); Token Test (language

skills).