What Does the Brain's Frontal Cortex Do? (Professor Robert Sapolsky Explains)

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If you've ever told someone their awful cooking was delicious, you can thank a specific part of your brain. The frontal cortex makes you do the right thing when it's the harder thing to do, from complimenting a bad haircut to biting your tongue on someone's off-key singing. Practice sparing someone's feelings with this insightful video.
Presented by Robert Sapolsky
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#FrontalCortex #BrainScience #ThatOutfitLooksGreatonYou

[@AJ-SuriaYoga]

Never thought I'd consider a PhD. in Neuroscience until Sapolsky! You had me at prefrontal cortex :)

[@cironicholas526]

I had a traumatic brain injury to my PFC when I was 7. I was the kid who broke into the teacher's desk and ate the cookies while I was waiting for her to come back so I could eat the marshmallow.

[@curtisstevenson9950]

He said frontal cortex 68 times

[@manictiger]

You have an impressive amount of free time, haha.

[@mrtomato5132]

did ur frontal cortex count that

[@BillyBob_McSanchez]

Now this video makes me wanna play Crash Bandicoot

[@BoeEye]

We on the verge of greatness, we were this close

[@mohammadmianji311]

yes prefrontal cortex :D

[@manoftheworld1000]

I consider him the smartest (neuro-)biologist on this planet. I fell in love with his work years ago!

[@heronass4552]

What did he mean by it keep s you form being serial murderer !!!

[@ryandavies1661]

Not me!??

[@ragewiththemachine1188]

His courses on The Great Courses are fantastic. I wish he had more.

[@george2916]

I love this guy. Wish he was my college lecturer way back in the day.

[@heronass4552]

He makes me fear By employing phrases like keep s u from being serial murderer !!! that s the depression it self

[@mrt8451]

Very informative and clear 🔊 good info..

[@chloethemessenger]

This information is so powerful and explains so much. I wonder if this different for both men and women 🤔

[@1HadChilling]

Ok so why arent we considered adults when this is fully developed? it sounds like a extremely important thing to make the right and considered decisions.

[@flargarbason1740]

So, the prefrontal cortex is what allows us to think for ourselves and have a personality. So theoretically, if you were to remove it could you potentially leave them in a zombie-like state? I’d think that since it is what allows us to think consciously, it could potentially cause them to always do what they’re told kind of like a robot.

[@mathildaflower2388]

Fantastic speculation, right now, there is only speculation regarding the extent of what PFC damage causes and there are so many factors that influence this, like how big the damage is and when the damage was sustained. My observation is that the PFCs unique role is entirely occupied with regulation of all kinds. It is the regulation circuit, best case I can think of is patient JP who had bilateral damage to the PFC. Do look the case up if interested.

[@tanjingning5017]

u can go and search for prefrontal lobotomy, a very unhumane surgery that was widely conducted to patience with mental disorder. I knew it form the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.It's a great film

[@annalisette5897]

The most heinous criminals and murderers have trouble with impulse control. Many of these individuals have had severe head injuries in the past. I believe at this time Dr. Sapolsky is doing some work in this area.

[@shakespearaamina9117]

Thank you! Amazing!

[@mr.woowoo8826]

Well just had a frontal cortex bleed. On a lighter note my filter has been broken for 10 plus years, so there's that, lol. Please, if you have high blood pressure take your meds. Strokes and seizures are life changers!

[@degighawalcott4119]

Thank you 😊

[@GallumArtemi]

I'd really like the whole talk of this.

[@daddyhag1715]

This video really helped me with my quiz about the brain.Edit:wow I actually got this comment liked,never expected thatXD

[@me-hc4bv]

Great explanation by this Man

[@heronass4552]

He makes me fear By employing phrases like keep s u from being serial murderer !!! that s the depression it self

[@nemesis4884]

lovely talk

[@polarspirit]

Very interesting

[@derek9153]

Great mind. Great orator. I recommend his labyrinth work: Behave - The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst

[@heronass4552]

He makes me fear By employing phrases like keep s u from being serial murderer !!! that s the depression it self

[@mdfaizan5573]

Everything is in right direction

[@riseshineacademyforthegift4193]

So, to take this further, what nutrition would you recommend to boost the brain function of the frontal lobe? What foods specifically would you recommend are best to feed children during their school age years?

[@TheGreatCourses]

Click the link to learn more!📚

[@niharikasingh7681]

Sir I can't find the link

[@AlexeiMotoRin]

@@TheGreatCourses i think i know what to eat and how to manage lifestyle for good functioning of PFC , but i would like to see this LINK :)

[@d6wave]

what's the best brain chemical substance as fuel !? GLUCOSE + DATA . on what brains run the most or easiest is glucose. brain size is based on exercising DATA INTEREST + GLICOSE. so would need exercise similar as muscles + glucose (glucose is for nothing if not enough exercise(interest), and interest or exercise is for nothing if not enough fuel). simple as that.

[@Ra5]

I like your style..💪

[@puyagorji4020]

This guy is amazing

[@TheGreatCourses]

He is :) Thank you for watching and commenting, Puya!

[@msiwaani]

What happen if someone have frontal lobe tumor ??? What does it affect after surgery??

[@bosshog7557]

the drug nbome damages the orbital cortex does it heal on its own in time? Or is damage permanent.

[@codeknight7]

What about if you take dopamine blockers?

[@angelamossucco2190]

I love this information. But isn’t the marshmallow example in regards to its predictive is imperfect because it’s causation being suggested despite it only be in correlation

[@crustyfapkin4349]

is it me or does the video look real smoooth

[@patrickglennon6834]

How do you heal it from c.p.t.s.d.????

[@francislydz4234]

but can frontal cortex be developed as early from the e of 25???

[@johnnymoondog]

Conscience !

[@MarkThrive]

2:37 frontal cortex is the last to develop when your ~25yrs old!

[@zachfox7771]

the marshmallow analogy implies well the relationship the frontal cortex has with language.

[@flipperishheart6516]

How so?

[@BillyBob_McSanchez]

Dr. Neo Cortex from Crash Bandicoot brought me here

[@salah7053]

The frontal cortex was mentioned in a book 1400 years ago, but the science did not discover it until 1842. By the way I have the book in which was mentioned.

[@lilfck5942]

Salah 70 what is that book

[@bassamfakhri8060]

Here on youtube kzbin.info/www/bejne/on3QmJehpJppmMU

[@maryamlina644]

what ayah?

[@taigafoxdraws8175]

As someone whose prefrontal courtex is impaired, I can confirm my brain is terrible at doing mmmmost of these things. I still have basic moral behaviors, but I do struggle with social etiquette like "complementing someone's terrible new haircut". I also am, in fact, able to use a toilet. But I wonder if that area of the brain is the most involved with social behaviors?

[@forpeople2532]

i dont get it, how prefrontal cortex helps emotion regulation for example ? by rationalizing and denying and projecting facts ?

[@paulward4395]

Never understood why we have it, but do know it gives us freedom, from trauma and mental health problems.

[@johnroekoek12345]

I would doubt what he said. My brain would turn it into: I will be back with two marshmallows

[@FrankFriedrich-lc6ie]

Is the conscious in the frontal cortex, just wondering

[@lizzypage6365]

I was onboard until we got to the marshmallow experiment. That experiment wasn’t that great at measuring impulse control. What it did do was tell us that rich kids don’t want treats as badly as poor kids.

[@m.g.9468]

interesting thesis. Makes absolutely sense.

[@d6wave]

why they don't want treats as bad. that must be the cortex reasoning knowing better negotiation or disciplines. it's not necessarily bc of hunger or bc of rich or bc of poor.

[@tristanmcmorran3709]

What’s up with the whole marshmallow thing? I never hear discussion over the variance in desire for the second marshmallow. I think it’s very telling that we value each other based on how good we are at wanting more. SAT scores and other second marshmallows are great, but why shouldn’t I just eat the first marshmallow and be happy with it? Because I’m stuck in a room for a while with nothing else to do. The second marshmallow, something that won’t benefit me in the long term, is only interesting because I can’t just eat the first marshmallow and leave. I think the takeaway has more to offer to sociology than to psychology. If that’s the function of the prefrontal cortex; to keep us sitting in a chair waiting for a reward, then what are the other things it motivates us to do worth? Are we constantly riding the second marshmallow high? Does the PFC again have a role to play in regulating that kind of moderation, and if so, how does such redundancy not end up causing loops that waste energy?

[@BrocoliMan2002]

I like the way you think. Time waiting for the marshmallow could be time spent elsewhere.

[@Radhikakhatri]

Pls help I can't understand anything

[@filmfelineadmin]

The language or the subject?

[@anthonyhibbert6304]

nice beard

[@MrScottLFC]

So is this why you get wiser as you get older ?

[@therealmax-oo5wy]

👍

[@KxNGFeel]

Bart part

[@user-mt9pr8jc5k]

i like you, you're smart 🤩🤩

[@Henriquezblu]

💕💕💕

[@annalisette5897]

I have extreme respect for Dr. Sapolsky and his findings. I do however question political policies that have evolved from the idea that the frontal cortex does not fully develop until age 25. That may be so biologically but what does it really mean? Other biology claims that females are most fertile up to age 25 or so. Delaying pregnancy until after that age may result in infertility, the biological clock running down. Did evolution plan for mentally immature females to produce the next generations? Surely if a hardened frontal cortex was desirable, reproduction would have been favoured at age 25 or later, within reason. Again referring to social and political policies, some of us are old enough to remember our grandparents describing doing a man's or woman's work at very young ages, sometimes as regular jobs that helped support the family. These tasks might include operating dangerous machinery. I suggest there must be evolutionary advantage for the delay in hardening of the cortex. I am deliberately using the word "hardening". My meaning is, while the cortex is still developing, there is more plasticity and when it hardens, or "hard wires" as we used to say, a person is less flexible and more set in their ways. Within my lifetime, government had NO PROBLEM drafting young men around the age of 18, teaching them to kill and sending them to the jungles of VietNam. One reason the drinking age was for a time lowered to around 18 was because commanding officers in VietNam said it was ridiculous that after a hard and bloody day of fighting Viet Cong, soldiers under 21 couldn't legally have a beer with their platoons. The move at that point was, if a young man was old enough to be drafter, armed and sent into combat, he was old enough to experience other aspects of adulthood. My point is, in my opinion, government policy, has less evolved than it has used neuro-biology as an excuse to selectively apply societal controls. Also in my opinion, it is damaging to base laws and policies upon the idea that children are children until they are 25 and the cortex has fully developed or hardened. In the bad old days when the average life span was around 35 years, young people had to shoulder extreme responsibilities. In my opinion, they still can, but society encourages delayed development and legislates based upon its own failings.

[@devonmeyers8213]

I’m confused- I don’t know what government policies you’re referring to. Are they localized (state/county) governments? *2 comments regarding your arguments* •I believe the “young man’s work” adage has more to do with motor function abilities/endurance/etc. than impulse control •average lifespan of pre-agrarian mankind is a mathematical average that takes into account things like infanticide.

[@thedailyrequirement1885]

I LOVE these lectures, but...who's dressing these dudes...?

[@filmfelineadmin]

You obviously never saw Revenge of the Nerds. You don't understand "good dressers"

[@MrAnonymousme10]

So age 25 is our real Adult age?

[@olandouglaswebb5316]

Yes but the frontal cortex has to be educated.

[@KoolT]

Frontal cortex let's use save face. Use manners, not blunt

[@mintredsky9994]

Lol 78 and a half frontal cortexs later

[@Henrybram]

i dont have one nooooooooooooooooooooo im 11

[@Henrybram]

well not fully there

[@me.atul10]

Most human ..... part of brain???

[@MdSiraj-ud8yc]

Holy Quran chapter 96:15-16 “No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock. (v16) - A lying sinning forelock.” The forelock is the first line of hair on the forehead directly in front of the Frontal Lobe. We now know science has recently found the purpose of the frontal lobe and this is the area of the brain that helps people with creativity and mischief and also lying. Bearing in mind the Holy Quran is over 1400 years old… Something to ponder about

[@CanadianReacts]

The evolutionary assumption doesn’t add up with his whole explanation of frontal cortex.

[@devonmeyers8213]

How so?