ABSTRACT
Understanding the role of the frontal lobes in the relationship between brain and behavior demands a concept of brain organization. Most brain function underlying overt behavior is dependent on organized integrated fixed functional systems working independently of frontal lobe influence; these can be localized in posterior/basal brain areas. "Loss of recent memory" was one of the earliest theories proposed to explain the behavioral deficits noted in animals with frontal lobe lesions. Many clinical examples and some research have gradually refined the concept of the memory problems secondary to frontal lobe disturbance. The frontal lobe memory deficit appears to be, at least in part, an inability to maintain consistent directed attention over time based on an inability to control interfering stimuli. The greatest confusion concerning the function of the frontal lobes surrounds the question of its role in cognition. Early on, the possible role of the frontal lobes in cognitive functions focused primarily on issues of IQ and abstraction.
