How your brain is affected after a traumatic injury obviously depends on what the injury is. It may also have to do with where the impact was and what exactly happened. The brain has many parts and each of them do something a little bit different.
While the study of neuroscience dates back to ancient Egypt, the study of the nervous system the way we understand it now has increased dramatically, especially in the last part of the twentieth century. The way researchers approach neuroscience in modernity is one that is interdisciplinary and collaborates with fields like chemistry, mathematics, linguistics, psychology and philosophy, among many others. This is important because neuroscience – or neurobiology – is how we understand the brain and although we understand quite a bit, we still also have a lot left to understand.
Here’s what we know about the frontal lobes.
The frontal lobe is one of the four major lobes in the brain of mammals and it’s, well, in the front. Your frontal lobe is in charge of your consciousness, so injuring it is a really big deal. It’s also in charge of how you respond to you environment, including your emotional responses. It choose between things that are good and bad and plays a big role in decision making. It makes sure that you don’t do anything socially unacceptable and it links up how things are similar to each other.
An injured frontal lobe can lead to paralysis, which can be in any body part, an inability to do things that are complex in an order (like getting ready to go out in the morning), getting stuck with one particular thought, not being able to focus on a particular task, having mood swings and changes in both your personality and your social behavior.
Luckily frontal lobe injuries aren’t that common and only occur after a bad car accident, a fall or a gunshot. Treatment can eventually help a patient regain some amount of the prior functioning along with strengthening skills to compensate for those that are lost or diminished.
