If you are a student, or just want to know more about how your body and how it works, this information will help. I remember sitting in anatomy class with this huge book in front of me wondering how in the world I am going to remember all of this? If you are studying the temporal lobe, don’t worry, it is a lot easier to remember the parts of the brain than you would think.
What the temporal lobe is responsible for:
The temporal lobe is just above your ears on both sides. The easiest way to remember this is to think that it is just behind the temple. There are two parts to the temporal lobe, the left and the right. This lobe is primarily responsible for hearing, memory, meaning and language. Its secondary functions are helping in processing emotion and learning. It processes all auditory information and sends it to storage portions of the brain.
What happens if your temporal lobe is injured?
Temporal lobe damage is not common due to its location, but it does happen. There are eight main symptoms of temporal lobe damage that can become an issue. These are:
1) Disturbance of hearing perception and sensation.
2) Disturbance of selective attention and visual and auditory input.
3) Impaired organization of verbal material
4) Disturbance of language comprehension
5) Impaired long term memory.
6) Altered sexual behavior
Disorders of the temporal lobe:
The main disorder that affects the temporal lobe is a seizure disorder. Seizures of the temporal lobe have been known to completely change a person’s personality. They can cause paranoia, preservative speech, aggression, rage and altered sexual behavior.
Resources
Kolb, B., & Whishaw, I. (1990). Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology. W.H. Freeman and Co., New York.