But, why shouldn't I give my husband a lobotomy?

Prefrontal lobes are cited in many articles and text books when the relationship between prefrontal lobe damage or archaic lobotomy procedures were used when discussions regarding social behaviors and higher mental functions were discussed (Kandel & Freed, 1989). The prefrontal lobes are responsible for behaviors that are often considered to be higher functioning brain activities such as intellectual capacity, awareness of self, abstract behavior, foresight, or ethics (Kandel & Freed, 1989).

Lovallo (2004) has discussed the associating between the frontal lobes and the manner in which thoughts and feelings are associated with the stress responses in that there are areas in the prefrontal cortex that manage and help us have feelings about the stressful situation rather than just observing information as data points. These areas of the brain allow us to draw connections between what we observe from the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (which receives connections from the sensory areas and the amygdala and returns axons to the amygdale) and the anterior cingulated gyrus (which relays neural signals between the right and left cerebral hemispheres of the brain) to form a visceral coloration or sensation of ideas and thoughts (Lovallo, 2004).

The prefrontal cortex is very important in social situations as well as higher-order evaluation in that this area of the brain helps to manage emotional content and responses as well as the flow of sensory information which helps us, in stressfully induced responses, to evaluate the validity of our options during the primary and secondary appraisal process (Lovallo, 2004). The frontal lobes allow us to gain meaning into the events that we experience and we are able to critically asses our secondary responses rather than just acting completely in a fight or flight response while still including our emotions in our cognitive thinking.

When harm has been done, unintentionally or surgically, to the prefrontal lobes severe consequences are dealt to the person. For example, Pinel (2006) described a situation in which the Nobel Prize was given to Dr. Egas Moniz for developing the surgical procedure of prefrontal lobotomy which was the surgical removal of the connection of the prefrontal lobes from the rest of the brain while leaving them biologically functional in the brain. This surgery, which resulted from supposed positive behavioral changes from observations of a chimpanzee that had a frontal lobe lesion, resulted in minimal therapeutic benefits and also resulted in many unwanted side effects such as emotional unresponsiveness and lack of foresight (Pinel, 2006).

Kandel, E. & Freed, D. (1989). Frontal-lobe dysfunction and antisocial behavior: A review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45(3), 404-413

Lovallo, W. (2004). Stress & Health: Biological and Psychological Interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

Pinel, John P. J. (2006). Biopsychology with “beyond the brain and behavior” (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

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