What Is the Temporal Lobe and What Does It Do

The temporal lobes sit behind the ears and are the second largest lobe. They are most commonly associated with processing auditory information and with the encoding of memory.

What would happen if your temporal lobe was damaged?

Right temporal damage can cause a loss of inhibition of talking. The temporal lobes are highly associated with memory skills. Left temporal lesions result in impaired memory for verbal material. Right side lesions result in recall of non-verbal material, such as music and drawings.

What can cause damage to the temporal lobe?

The most common cause of temporal lobe lesions is a CVE. Space-occupying lesions may be primary brain tumours – benign (such as meningioma) or malignant. They may also be secondary tumours or metastatic carcinoma, most often from lung cancer or breast cancer.