Final explanation of temporal lobe

January 5 / 2018

Stage: c) taking action

Approaches to learning: Transference skills because I was able to gather all my current knowledge regarding the temporal lobe in order to be able to write this final definition.

I found the process of writing this entry a lot easier and simpler compared to the past two, it was a little bit hard to gather myself to write, but once I had started the words just started flowing out, I found the temporal lobe to be a little bit confusing because it has so much functions and a lot of different tasks, however once I consulted multiple sources and read them over and over again I was finally able to comprehend this important portion of the brain.

TEMPORAL LOBE: The temporal lobe is located in the cerebral cortex, in a simple description, it is located next to your ears, which is the reason why it plays a vital role in auditory processing, how? well, first, it perceives sounds such as speech or music, then it assesses their meaning through decoding them, and finally it stores them for long term memory in order for you to be able to remember that one special song or conversation.

The temporal lobe also aids in other vital functions such as the production of speech and the recognition of language, when thinking about it, these functions have a huge relationship with the job the temporal lobe does in auditory processing, because if you are unable to properly perceive spoken language, then it may not be possible for you to recognize the language you are being spoken in, and if you are not capable of recognizing the language, then, you won't be able to produce the speech required to answer.

Regarding visual stimuli, the temporal lobe also has a very important contribution to tasks such as interpreting the stimuli's meaning and setting the images up for long term memory. The process of interpreting visual stimuli mainly includes the recognition an object, however in order to be able to recognize an object you must first understand the image being received, and in order to be able to understand it you must obtain aid from the ventral part of the temporal lobe, this specific area of the temporal lobe is in charge of assigning meaning to things you tend to see on a daily basis, such as face recognition and body language amongst others. 

Another important function of the temporal lobe is the aid it provides in memory association and formation, with the help of the hippocampus and the amygdala, it takes the images and the sounds it previously received, processes them (meaning it comprehends and recognizes them) and then it stores such experiences for long term memory where you will be able to recall them whenever you fell like it (however the strength of a memory depends on how big of a role your senses had when recording that memory, meaning that the stronger the participation of the senses, the stronger the memory).

Within the temporal lobes, there is a very important structure called the limbic system, which basically holds the thalamus, hypothalamus and amygdala amongst others, meaning that it's contribution to the previously mentioned memory formation process is outstandingly great.

Even though the temporal lobe is only developed in vertebrates,  damage inflicted to it can result in difficulties comprehending language, recalling memories and maintaining emotional control. Consequences such as the previously mentioned ones are reasons why the temporal lobe is such an important part of the brain, because if it weren't for it's presence, some of our main human characteristics would be gone, and our "normal" behavior as we know it today, would be non existent.