Based from its name, the frontal lobe is located at the anterior part of the brain. It is considered as the largest part of the brain which is responsible for some of the major functions of the brain; among these are reasoning, cognition and concentration. The primary motor area is also located at the frontal lobe; it allows the person to consciously control his/her muscles for movement. Aside from motor function, it also has a speech motor function or involved in ability of a person to speak through the Broca’s area.
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As far as psychology is concern, the frontal lobe has a major contribution to a person’s emotion, behavior and organization of thoughts. It is considered as the body’s emotional center and home of one person’s personality. The frontal lobe, being an emotional center of the body, regulates most of the dopamine-sensitive neurons in the brain which is associated with drive, attention and planning abilities. The higher thinking skills is also included in the functions of the frontal lobe which allows the person to retain long term memories, determine similarities and differences between things or events and suppress unacceptable social behaviors.
The parietal lobe is located at the posterior of frontal lobe occupying the middle section of the brain. It is considered as the part of the brain which is responsible for tactile sensory perception of pressure, touch and pain. The somatic sensory area is located at the parietal lobe which is responsible for processing of the senses of the body; one of this is recognition of pain, coldness and light touch. The knowledge of a being to the location of his/her body in space as well as the spatial knowledge of a person is synchronized by the parietal lobe. It is also known to have an ability to interpret taste sensation because of the gustatory area.
The Occipital lobe is situated at the back portion of the brain and is connected with interpreting visual stimulus and visual information. It contains the primary visual cortex which perceive and interprets information coming from the person’s eye. The controlling of vision and visual processing done by the occipital lobe of the brain allows us to see and identify the things we are looking at. It also gives us understanding to different colors and shades. Visual interpretation is not only function of occipital lobe, it is also involve in differentiating shapes and understanding different letters and symbols. In a case of head injury and there is a damage on occipital lobe of the brain, the vision of the person will be greatly affected.
D. Temporal Lobe
The temporal lobe is located on around the temples inferior to the frontal lobe. This lobe is the location of the primary auditory cortex which is essential for receiving and interpreting sounds and the language a person hears. It reacts to different kinds of sounds and sound frequencies and helps a being to identify the location of a specific sound. The hippocampus is also situated in the temporal lobe, which is also associated with emotion and formation of memories. It plays an important role in long term memory retention which is essential in letting a person recall consciously and describe past memories. Another function of hippocampus in the temporal lobe is to retrieve information stored in brain that can be anything like facts, events, people and places. Another role of this lobe is an effective emotional response through the amygdale; this causes mood swings and unpredictable behaviors. The Wernicke’s area, which is regulated at the temporal lobe of the brain, contains the language zone which is responsible for controlling the mental processing that is needed for speech. It regulates the processes involved in comprehension and verbal memory. Aside from hearing the temporal lobe also contains olfactory centers for sense of smell.
2. How does the aging process impact the neurological system?
The nervous system undergoes various changes throughout the lifespan of a person, especially to an aged person where his neurological function started to run slow and so much vulnerable to general systemic changes. Despite that, changes in the nervous system of an aged man vary from person to person. Some can have a major decline in neurologic function and some may demonstrate a little change of function.
For some, a number of changes can occur with advancing age, some of this are decrease in brain
A number of alterations occur in with increasing age. Brain weight decreases, as does the number of synapses. A loss of neuron occurs in selected regions of the brain. Cerebral blood flow and metabolism are reduced. Temperature regulation became less efficient. In the peripheral nervous system, myelin is lost resulting in a decrease in conduction velocity in some nerves. There is an overall reduction in muscle bulk and the electrical activity within muscles. Taste buds atrophy and nerve cell fibers in the olfactory bulb degenerates. Nerve cell in the proprioceptive pathways also degenerates. Deep tendon reflexes can be decreased or in some cases absent. Hypothalamic function is modified such that stage IV sleep is reduced. There is an overall slowing of autonomic nervous system responses. Papillary responses are reduced or may not appear at all in the presence of cataract.
Changes in motor function often result in a flexed posture, shuffling gait, and rigidity movement. These changes can create difficulties for the older person in maintaining or recovering balance. Strength and agility are diminished, and reaction time and movement time are decreased. Repetitive movements and mild tremors may be noted during an examination and may be a concern to the person. Observation of gait may reveal a wide-based gait with balance difficulties.
Sensory isolation due to visual hearing and loss can cause confusion, anxiety disorientation, misinterpretation of the environment, and feelings of inadequacy. Other manifestations of neurologic changes are related to temperature regulation and pain. The elderly patient may feel more readily than heat and may require extra covering when in bed. Reaction to painful stimuli may be decreased of age.
Another neurologic alteration in the elderly patient is the dulling tactile sensation due to decrease in the number of areas of the body responding to all stimuli and in the number and sensitivity of the sensory receptors. There may be difficulty in identifying objects by touch, and because of fewer tactile cues are received from the bottom of the feet, the person may come confused about body position and location.
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3. Compare and contrast the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in terms of function.
The different organs of the body accept nerve fibers from both divisions of the autonomic nervous system; the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. Exceptions to this are most of the blood vessels, large parts of the skin, some of the body glands and the adrenal medulla which only receives sympathetic nerve fibers. Whenever an organ is served by both of the divisions of ANS, it produces antagonistic effects to the body, mainly because the post-ganglionic axons release different neurotransmitters. The parasympathetic fibers are called cholinergic fibers which releases acetylcholine while the sympathetic fibers are called adrenergic fibers that release norepinephrine. Both preganglionic axons of the two divisions release acetylcholine.
The sympathetic nervous system is often referred to as the “flight-or-fight” system. Its activity is evident when we are excited or find ourselves in emergency or threatening situations, such as being frightened by the dogs along the road. The other division of the autonomic nervous system is the parasympathetic nervous system; unlike the SNS, PNS is most active when the body is at rest and not threatened in any way. This is sometimes called as the “resting-and-digesting” system; its main concern is to promote normal digestion of food and elimination of feces and urine and save sufficient body energy, particularly by decreasing demands on the cardiovascular system. In SNS, a hammering heartbeat; Tachypnea; cold and clammy skin; prickly scalp; and dilated eye pupils are sure signs of sympathetic activity. During these situations, the sympathetic nervous system increases heart rate, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels; dilates the bronchioles of the lungs; and brings about many other affect to help the individual cope up with stressors. In the other hand, the PNS regulates the blood pressure, heart and respiratory rates at normal levels; the digestive tract is actively digesting food, and the skin is warm to touch. The eye pupils are constricted to protect the retinas from excessive light exposure, and the lenses of the eyes are “set” for close vision. The most important role of the PNS is for digestion, defecation and diuresis while the SNS is for exercise, excitement, emergency and embarrassment.
As said earlier, an organ which receives nerve fibers from both divisions of ANS has an antagonistic effect with each other. One example of this is the effect of ANS in the urinary bladder; in SNS the urinary bladder constricts which prevents the person from voiding. Meanwhile, the PNS relaxes the sphincters to provide and allow voiding. When it comes to the salivary and lacrimal gland, there is going to be an increase of production of saliva and tears in PNS and inhibition of production in SNS resulting to dry eyes and mouth. The reproductive system of males have different reactions too, it was erected due to vasodilation in PNS and emission of semen in the SNS.
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