What it means
The frontal bone forms the forehead; the frontal sinuses are air spaces in it. The frontal lobe, at the front of the brain, controls planned movement, speech (in one area of the left side), judgment, personality and behavior. The frontal plane is an imaginary flat surface that divides the body into front and back parts.
For the nurse
After a head injury or stroke affecting the frontal lobe, watch for changes in behavior, judgment and speech, and for weakness on one side; family members are often the first to notice a personality change.
Related terms
cephal/o
A word part that means head.
cerebrum
The largest part of the brain, made of two halves, that handles thinking, memory, language, sensation and voluntary movement.
occipital lobe
The part of the brain at the back of the head that takes in and makes sense of what the eyes see.