In our brains, there are four lobes- frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, the occipital lobe. The temporal lobe is located below parietal lobe and immediately behind the frontal lobe. It is called temporal lobe because it is located near the temples of our head.
The main functions of the temporal lobe are related to the following:
- Auditory processing
- Memory
- Language processing
- Control on emotions and response
- Visual processing
- Speech
- Facial recognition
The other types of functions are- various types of sounds such as listening to music and sounds of birds, etc, the expressions on the face, the ability to differentiate amongst various languages, etc.
What will happen if the Temporal Lobe gets damaged?
As we have understood that the temporal lobe plays numerous functions, we need to really be vigilant about any potential damage to the temporal lobe. Mostly the area of the part of the lobe that will get damaged and the impact of damage will be detrimental in deciding whether how and how much harm has occurred to our regular movements.
There can be serious consequences that can be a result of the temporal lobe damage:
- Short term memory loss
- Inability to name and recognize objects
- Inability to recognize the faces of familiar people
- Aggressive behavior, and hallucinations
Having understood the impact and results of damage to the temporal lobe, let us learn more about the symptoms of temporal lobe damage:
One of the main symptoms of temporal lobe damage is related to the changes in visual memory and spatial memory. It means that we start forgetting things at a much faster pace than usual. For example, if you will look at something and another instant itself you will find yourself trying hard to recall exactly what you had your eyes on!
Similarly, another symptom can relate to your ability to recognizing languages and the words. If someone speaks a language which is very familiar to you and in turn, you may end up asking the person about what he or she is trying to convey to you. In some cases, it can be a hearing issue as well while in other cases it can relate to your inability to recognize various words. Worst case scenario leads to an inability to recognize various names of your friends and family including yourself.
Spatial memory loss issues are also a symptom of temporal lobe damage when you incur serious problems such as you keep on walking or jogging or driving and all of a sudden you realize that you do not know where have you come or where were you headed to!
Long term memory loss leads to causing the loss of time span and forgetting really important aspects of one’s own life as well. You may have to put in efforts to make the person realize that why is he in a particular situation at the given point of time.
Well, knowing these difficulties that occur with the damage in the temporal lobe, one must wonder whether they can sustain after the loss or damage of temporal lobe or not!
Well, yes, it is not impossible to live without temporal lobe. However, it is going to be really difficult. Some patients can still look up to some hope in medical science that has surgeries for curing temporal lobe damage such as lobectomy. However, the recovery from this surgery again is a challenging task!