Frontal Lobe

NINDS says the two frontal lobes lie directly behind the forehead; NIA describes them as situated above the eyes and behind the forehead. The other lobes are described in relation to them: NINDS places the parietal lobes behind the frontal lobes, and NIA places the temporal lobes below and to the side of each frontal lobe on the right and left sides of the brain.

According to NIA, the frontal lobes direct executive functioning, which includes planning and sequencing, prioritizing, multitasking, and monitoring and correcting errors. When functioning well, they also help manage emotional responses and aid in making decisions that make sense for a given situation. NIA adds that the frontal lobes are involved in language, particularly linking words to form sentences, and in motor functions, such as moving the arms, legs, and mouth. NINDS notes that the motor cortex, in the back portion of each frontal lobe, helps plan, control, and execute voluntary movement.

Frontotemporal disorders result from damage to neurons primarily in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain; NIA says they can begin in the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe, or both. When the frontal lobes are damaged, people may focus on insignificant details and ignore important aspects of a situation. In Broca's aphasia, the Spanish-language page of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) says the damage mainly affects the frontal lobe of the brain.

Lóbulo frontal is the form used in the Spanish-language pages of NINDS and NIDCD. Lóbulo is a masculine noun, and the RAE dictionary gives its anatomical sense as a rounded, projecting portion of any organ, with the example los lóbulos del pulmón, del hígado, del cerebro. NINDS writes the plural los lóbulos frontales and locates them sobre los ojos y detrás de la frente; when it names two lobes together it writes los lóbulos frontal y temporal.

The same RAE entry gives another sense of lóbulo: the lower, non-cartilaginous part of the ear, the earlobe. Terms that appear with it in the NINDS page are lóbulo temporal (temporal lobe), trastornos frontotemporales (frontotemporal disorders) and funcionamiento ejecutivo (executive functioning). NIDCD uses afasia de Broca for Broca's aphasia, describes the lóbulo frontal as el área situada detrás de la frente, and says that it also controls los movimientos voluntarios (voluntary movements).