Frontal Lobe Rehabilitation
Animals have a smaller frontal lobe than humans, and therefore their responses are limited to fight or flight, advance closer or run for their lives. We humans, on the other hand, have highly developed frontal lobes. We are capable of a higher spectrum of responses, and a more sophisticated, higher-level of thinking.
Our frontal lobes are capable of:
- Prioritizing tasks and risks
- Forming moral or ethical stances
- Responding to memories
- Feeling emotions
This is where we develop our relationships and build civilizations. We come to agreements or truces and create unusual and complex structures. Love, sorrow, pain, resentment, joy, rapture, poetry, storytelling, art—all of these are benefits of a complicated and powerful frontal lobe. It is also why it is so devastating when the frontal lobe becomes damaged or degenerates from the use of substances.
Dysfunctional frontal lobes keep people from making appropriate decisions. Damage to the frontal lobe means they cannot make socially-appropriate decisions or even support their own survival. Often, they struggle to manage or control their emotions. And, frequently people begin lying or cheating as a result of their frontal lobe damage.
Neuroscientists have recently explored new ways to measure frontal lobe performance. By utilizing the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, (UPDRS) along with reaction time evaluation, eye movement, and other neurocognitive testing, we get a clearer insight into how well your frontal lobe is functioning.
At Diamond Tree Recovery, we perform assessments to help determine the level of care our patients need. If the frontal lobe is not fully functional, we create targeted therapies and exercises that essentially reteach it to intake, perceive and organize information as accurately as it once did, only then can it create accurate responses.
Without our frontal lobes, we’re strangers—even to ourselves.