Frontal Lobe

The frontal lobe is the anterior (front) portion of each cerebral hemisphere. The frontal lobes functions include initiating voluntary motor impulses for the movement of skeletal muscles, analyzing sensory experiences and providing responses relating to personality. The frontal lobes also involve responses related to memory, emotions, reasoning, judgement and planning and verbal communication. A highly specialized area of the frontal lobe is the motor speech area, known as Broca's area. Generally located in the left hemisphere, mental activity in Broca's area causes selective stimulation of motor impulses in motor centers elsewhere in the frontal lobe, which in turn cause coordinated skeletal muscle movement in the pharynx and larynx. At the same time, motor impulses are sent to the respiratory muscles to regulate air movement across the vocal cords. This combined muscular stimulation translates thought patterns into speech