How the brain works

Most brain injuries affect the cerebral hemispheres. Each cerebral hemisphere (left and right) is divided into four sections (called lobes). Each lobe is responsible for different things but they are all connected and work very closely together.

The left side of the brain controls movement and sensation on the right side of the body. The right side of the brain controls movement and sensation on the left side of the body.

Areas of the brain:

A prominent structure in the parietal lobe of the brain. It is the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch.

The region of the brain involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary movements.

The frontal lobes are the largest structures in the brain. They are the main site of the higher cognitive functions such as planning, organising and problem-solving. It also controls the ability to project future consequences, the choice between good and bad actions (or better and best), the override and suppression of socially unacceptable responses, and the determination of similarities and differences between things or events. The frontal lobe is responsible for emotional regulation and personality.

The frontal lobes are also home to substructures that are involved in attention, voluntary movement, and language.

These lobes play an important role in integrating information from different senses to build a coherent picture of the world. It allows us to coordinate movements in response to the objects in our environment. The parietal lobes are involved in attention in terms of awareness of the environment, manipulating objects and representing numbers. It is involved in language and visual processing and understanding sensations.

The temporal lobes contain a large number of substructures, whose functions include perception, face recognition, object recognition, memory acquisition, understanding language and emotional reactions.

This is the primary visual area of the brain. It gets information from the eye helps to process information such as where and what things are.

The brain stem is made up of several structures which are deep within the brain, including the Pons, Medulla oblongata and Midbrain. It controls breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. The brain stem controls reflexes but also helps with fine motor movements of the limbs and face. The Brain stem is crucial in maintaining consciousness and regulating the sleep cycle. It also helps with swallowing.

This part of the brain plays an important part in motor control. It contributes to coordination, precision and accurate timing.