The parietal lobe, located near the back and top of the head, is part of the cerebral cortex. It is involved in the reception and processing of sensory information from the body. It controls goal directed voluntary movements, manipulation of objects and the integration of different senses that allows for understanding a single concept.
- Cognition.
- Information processing.
- Pain and touch sensation.
- Spatial orientation and body position.
- Speech.
- Understanding the concept of time.
- Visual attention and face recognition.
ILLUSTRATION: The somatosensory system
The parietal lobe can be divided into two regions by function: One integrates sensory information to form our perception (cognition) while the other function involves spatial coordination to guide us in our environment. Damage to parietal lobes can result in deficits, such as abnormalities in body image and spatial relations.
Damage to left parietal lobe
- Confusion between the right and left side of the body.
- Difficulty with writing (agraphia), reading (alexia) and mathematics (acalculia).
- Language disorders (aphasia).
- Inability to perceive objects normally (agnosia).
Damage to right parietal lobe
- Neglecting part of the body or space (contralateral neglect).
- Problems with self-care skills.
- Difficulty with making things (constructional apraxia).
- Denial of problems (anosagnosia).
Damage to both sides
- Problems with visual attention and motor skills.
- Inability to voluntarily control the gaze (ocular apraxia).
- Inability to integrate components of a visual scene (simultanagnosia).
- Problems with hand/eye coordination (optic ataxia).
