Brain Structure & Function (AQA GCSE Psychology)

The frontal lobe & the parietal lobe

• The brain is divided into two hemispheres, left and right and is covered by a thin layer known as the cerebral cortex

• The brain has four main lobes, each of which regulates and controls specific functions:

  • The frontal lobe

  • The parietal lobe

  • The occipital lobe

  • The temporal lobe

• Each lobe is divided between the two hemispheres i.e. there is symmetry in the brain, with each lobe mirroring itself on the right/left hemisphere

• As each hemisphere is responsible for different functions then each lobe is also responsible for different functions too 

Function of the frontal lobe

• It is located at the front of the brain 

• Responsible for:

  • motor coordination i.e. voluntary movement (located in the motor cortex of the frontal lobe)

  • language production (particularly Broca’s area which is located in the left hemisphere of the frontal lobe)

  • executive functioning e.g. planning, reasoning, impulse-control (specifically the job of the prefrontal cortex)

Function of the parietal lobe

• It is located at the top of the brain

• It is responsible for:

  • enabling people to understand sensory information detected via touch e.g. heat/cold, vibrations, pressure, pain (located in the somatosensory cortex of the parietal lobe)

  • enabling people to understand where parts of their body are i.e. even with your eyes closed you still know where your left ankle or right shoulder is

The occipital lobe & the temporal lobe

Function of the occipital lobe

• It is located at the back of the brain

• It is responsible for:

  • sight (located in the visual cortex of the occipital lobe)

  • decoding visual information sent from the eyes and turning it into forms that can be used to navigate and interpret the environment (the process of sight, in other words)

  • regulating a range of other visual functions including spatial processing, perception (distance and depth), face recognition

Function of the temporal lobe

• It is located on either side of the brain (around where the ears are located on the head)

• It is responsible for:

  • auditory processing e.g. hearing (located in the auditory cortex)

  • language comprehension  (particularly Wernicke's area which is located in the left hemisphere of the temporal lobe)

  • memory retrieval and the processing of emotions

The cerebellum

• The cerebellum plays a  vital role in movement and balance, receiving messages from the spinal cord as to how to move

• It contains around half the total neurons in the brain even though it is a small structure (it means ‘little brain’ in Latin)

• It coordinates bodily movements, maintaining posture, muscle tone and voluntary actions 

• The cerebellum uses sensory information for example:

  • it receives messages from the eye muscles about environmental conditions

  • the message could be, ‘I need more light to read by’

  • the cerebellum can then adjust head movement by turning towards the light source

• The cerebellum also plays a role in some cognitive functions e.g.  language and memory, attention

Research which investigates brain structure

• Maguire et al. (2000): increased grey matter in the brains of taxi cab drivers was found in the hippocampus which is located in the temporal lobe

• Draganski et al. (2006): participants who had learnt a juggling routine showed more grey matter in their temporal lobe

• Raine et al. (1997) found that impulsive murderers did not use their prefrontal cortex located in the frontal lobe when engaged in a cognitive task