Neurological Disorders Arising from Cortical Lesions

A brain lesion is an abnormality in part of the brain tissue, often resulting from a stroke, from a traumatic brain injury, or from a tumor or other disease process. Cortical lesions are lesions occurring in the brain’s cortex--- the part of the human brain responsible for higher functions like cognition, as well as for sensory and motor functions. Depending on the location of the lesion, neurological disorders can arise after a stroke or injury in Boston, with the type of problems dependent on the location of the lesion. Different types of neurological disorders arise from lesions in different areas of the brain, with injuries to the frontal lobes, parietal lobes, temporal lobes, or occipital lobes producing different effects that correspond to the functions of the damaged area.

Neurological Disorders from Frontal Lobe Lesions

The brain’s frontal lobes are most strongly associated with what is called “executive function”. This refers to the ability to plan future actions, to contemplate the consequences of possible alternate courses of action, to modulate one’s responses based on what is socially acceptable, and to recognize patterns in systems or events. When a lesion in Boston occurs in the frontal lobes, executive function can become compromised as a result. Various behavioral changes can arise as a result. Sometimes a frontal lobe lesion will decrease a person’s volition and motivation, functions which are largely handled in the frontal lobes. The person can also become less socially inhibited and display inappropriate behaviors, or otherwise become more impulsive than they were before the injury occurred.

Neurological Disorders from Parietal Lobe Lesions

The parietal lobes play an important role in integrating sensory information, as well as in mathematical and spatial reasoning processes. The neurological disorders that result from parietal lobe lesions in Boston often correspond to which hemisphere is affected. Right parietal lesions often compromise mental imagery and the ability to visualize spatial relationships. Sometimes a right parietal lesion can also lead to a neurological condition called “left hemispheric neglect”, in which the person is no longer aware of, or in control of, the left side of their body. Left parietal lobe lesions often cause neurological disorders involving a loss of mathematical, reading, and symbolic reasoning abilities. Other neurological disorders associated with parietal lobe lesions in Boston involve ataxia, a loss of motor coordination ability; amorphosynthesis, a loss of perception of one side of the body, generally the side opposite the side on which the lesion occurred; and Gerstmann syndrome. Gerstmann syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by loss of the ability to write, loss of the ability to perform mathematical calculations, left-right disorientation, and finger agnosia.

Neurological Disorders from Temporal Lobe Lesions

Among the primary functions of the temporal lobes, which contain a brain structure called the “hippocampus”, is the formation of long-term memories. The temporal lobes are also involved in processing auditory sensory information; establishing object recognition and interpreting the meaning and importance of visual input; and recognizing and processing language. These functions can become impaired in Boston when lesions result from injury or stroke. One common result of temporal lobe lesions is the loss of the ability to remember visual stimuli, called visual agnosia. Another of the neurological disorders associated with temporal lobe lesions in Boston is prosopagnosia, a disorder in which a person loses the ability to recognize faces.

Neurological Disorders from Occipital Lobe Lesions

The occipital lobes, located at the back of the brain, are best known for containing the areas that process various aspects of visual information. Occipital lobe lesions in Boston most often lead to some form of vision loss. Often this take the form of homonymous hemianopsia, in which one side of the visual field is “cut off” in both eyes. Damage to the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobes can cause total cortical blindness. When areas of the occipital lobes adjacent to the temporal or parietal lobes are damaged, phenomena like color agnosia--- a loss of the ability to recognize color--- and movement agnosia--- a loss of the ability to recognize motion--- can occur.

BOSTON: NEUROFEEDBACK FOR NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS