Frontal lobe Flashcards
what is the role of frontal lobe/ what movements is it involved in
- volitional eye movements
- speech and language
- motivational behaviour
- working memory
- attention
- social behaviour
- self awareness
- self regulation
- executive ability
What are the motor areas in the frontal love
Primary–> area 4
secondary- area 6
What are the motor disturbances that result from a damaged frontal lobe
Primary/secondary motor cortex–> no voluntary movement/poor fractionation of movt. and abnormal muscle tone (spasticity)
- left and right hemispheres affected equally
- release of primitive reflexes (grasp, sucking, bite reflex)
- sphincter control–> micturition centre in frontal lobe
What are volitional eye movements mediated by
frontal eye fields
- anterior to motor strips
- saccadic eye movements depend on the integrity of this system
How can frontal lobe lesion affect volitional eye movements
can produce an alteration in voluntary eye gaze in relation to scanning the visual field appropriately (random eye movements)
What are some language disturbances for frontal lobe lesions
Expressive aphasia (broca’s area affected)
- inability to perform verbal expression of language
- can understand language but have non-fluent output
What are executive funcitons
set of cognitive processes
-include attentional control, inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility, reasoning, problem solving and planning
frontal lobe responsible for executive function
What is the executive function necessary for
for cognitive control of behaviour
-for selecting and successfully monitoring behaviours that facilitate the attainment of chosen goals
What is volition
- ability to determine needs and wants
- conceptualise future realisation of needs and wants
What are some examples of executive functions
- volition
- planning and organising behaviours
- purposeful activity
- effective performance (attention)
- planning ahead
- monitoring ahead
- sustained attention
- goal directed behaviour
- problem solving
What does volition require
- Self awareness
- ability to formulate a goal and intentions and initiate task performance
- awarness of environment
- social awarness
Define planning
identification and organisation of steps and elements to carry out an intention or achieve a goal
what does planning require
involves ability to look ahead and conceptualise change, identify alternatives, prioritise and make choices and make a plan
What is a purposeful action
ability to structure an effective and fluent course of action
What is working memory
ability to hold a limited amount of information while a variety of cognitive operations are performed
-important process for resoning and guidance of decision making and behaviour
What is the frontal lobes primary role in working memory
the control and manipulation of information held ‘on-line’
What is PTA
post traumatic amnesia
- confusion and memory loss following traumatic brain injury
- may last mins/weeks/months
- pt will be confused, disorientated, unable to retain day to day events
What is anterograde amnesia
problems with creating new memories after injury
what is retrograde injury
loss of memories that are formed shortly before the injury
What is a confabulation
the replacement of a gap in a persons memory by a falsification that he/she believes to be true
What are the 2 types of declarative memory
Episodic and semantic
what is episodic memory
relates to personally experienced events situated in the person’s temporo-spatial context
What is semantic memory
concerns general knowledge independent of the learning context
What are the 3 types of attention and what are they controlled by
Frontal lobes mediate attentional control
- Switching attention
- Selective attention
- Sustained attention
