By: Sam Meeks
Parietal Lobe
What is the Parietal Lobe?
The Parietal lobe is located at the top of the head, between the frontal lobe and the occipital lobe. The parietal lobe makes up approximately twenty percent of your brain and includes the somatosensory cortex and posterior parietal cortex (Souza-Couto et al., 2023). This region of the brain helps your body to recognize sensations that take place throughout the body (Cleveland Clinic, 2023).
Functions of the Parietal Lobe
The parietal lobe processes sensory information from the body, allowing you to perceive sensations such as touch, temperature, pressure, vibration, and pain. The parietal lobe also uses this sensory information to determine the position of different parts of your body, even when you cannot see them. This is called proprioception, and it allows you to know where your arms and legs are, even with your eyes closed. Additionally, the parietal lobe receives sensory information from other regions of the brain, integrates that information, and relays it to the appropriate areas for further processing and response. (Cleveland Clinic, 2023)
Complications of the Parietal Lobe
Damage to the Parietal Lobe can be devastating. The parietal lobe works with other regions of the brain to carry out certain functions. The most common symptoms resulting from injury are sensory deficits, such as numbness, tingling, or burning, difficulty recognizing hot and cold, and an inability to discern where sensations are coming from on the body. Additionally, because the parietal lobe integrates visual information received from the occipital lobe, damage to the parietal lobe can impair hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and visual tracking. (Flint Rehab, 2022)
Complications related to Epilepsy
Parietal lobe epilepsy (PLE) is a condition where seizures originate in the parietal lobe, creating symptoms like tingling, numbness, electric-shock sensations, or a sense of burning and pain in a body part. Additionally, they can create a sense of false movement like floating or twisting in a limb. Due to the Parietal lobe’s involvement in vision, there may also be visual illusions, like the perception of an object as larger or smaller than it actually is. Lastly, it is possible for difficulty in reading, calculating, and writing to arise, due to those actions relying heavily on sensory inputs. (International League Against Epilepsy, 2019)
Treatment options for epilepsy complications
Medical management treatment utilizes anti-seizure medications like carbamazepine, levetiracetam, or lamotrigine, which calm electrical signals in the brain. If medication fails, surgical intervention may be the next step. Some surgical treatments include extratemporal resection, where a specifically affected portion of the Parietal lobe is removed; Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT), a minimally invasive surgery where a laser eliminates the seizure focus; and neurostimulation, a generalized term for a range of surgeries that place an electrode into the brain at a target position, which stimulates the position with electricity to abate symptoms. (Epilepsy Foundation, 2018)
Conclusion:
The parietal lobe is responsible for discerning sensory information from the body such as heat and pain, and processing sensory information from varying parts of the brain. Damage to it can create problems related to senses and vision, and epilepsy in the area often creates false sensory and visual information. There are many treatment options for parietal lobe epilepsy, including medication, surgery, and neurostimulation.
References:
Cleveland Clinic. (2023). Parietal Lobe: What It Is, Function, Location & Damage. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/24628-parietal-lobe
Flint Rehab. (2020). Parietal lobe damage: Understanding symptoms and treatments. Flint Rehab. https://www.flintrehab.com/parietal-lobe-damage/
Kiriakopoulos, E., Cascino, G.D., Britton, J.W., Koubeissi, M., and Dewar, S. (2018). Types of Epilepsy Surgery. Epilepsy Foundation. https://www.epilepsy.com/treatment/surgery/types
Souza-Couto, D., Bretas, R., & Aversi-Ferreira, T. A. (2023). Neuropsychology of the parietal lobe: Luria’s and contemporary conceptions. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17, 1226226. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1226226
