Brain Structures and Classic Cases

The four lobes

• Frontal — planning, judgement, impulse control, and voluntary movement (motor cortex).
• Parietal — touch and body position (somatosensory cortex).
• Occipital — vision.
• Temporal — hearing and language comprehension.

Deeper structures

Hippocampus forms new memories. Amygdala handles fear and emotion. Hypothalamus regulates hunger, thirst, temperature and the endocrine system. Cerebellum coordinates balance and procedural movement. Medulla controls breathing and heartbeat.

Cases that anchor the map

• Phineas Gage — a rod through the frontal lobe left his memory and speech intact but destroyed his judgement and self-control.
• Patient H.M. — hippocampus removed; he could not form new explicit memories, yet old memories survived and he could still learn new skills.
• Split-brain patients — the corpus callosum severed; each hemisphere processes independently, revealing that language is usually left-lateralised.