The precentral gyrus is directly anterior to the central sulcus, running parallel to it and contains the primary motor cortex, which controls voluntary movements of specific body parts.

[6] These findings corroborate those of Coffey, who in 1992 indicated that the frontal lobe decreases in volume approximately 0.5–1% per year.

The function of the PFC involves the ability to project future consequences that result from current actions.

PFC functions also include override and suppression of socially unacceptable responses as well as differentiation of tasks.

The PFC also plays an important part in integrating longer non-task based memories stored across the brain.

Damage to the frontal lobe can occur in a number of ways and result in many different consequences.

Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) also known as mini-strokes, and strokes are common causes of frontal lobe damage in older adults (65 and over).

These strokes and mini-strokes can occur due to the blockage of blood flow to the brain or as a result of the rupturing of an aneurysm in a cerebral artery.

[11] This personality change is characteristic of damage to the frontal lobe, and was exemplified in the case of Phineas Gage.

The frontal lobe is the same part of the brain that is responsible for executive functions such as planning for the future, judgment, decision-making skills, attention span, and inhibition.

During aging, DNA damage is markedly increased in the promoters of the genes displaying reduced expression in the frontal cortex.

[14] Individuals with HIV associated neurocognitive disorders accumulate nuclear and mitochondrial DNA damage in the frontal cortex.

[15] A report from the National Institute of Mental Health says a gene variant of (COMT) that reduces dopamine activity in the prefrontal cortex is related to poorer performance and inefficient functioning of that brain region during working memory, tasks, and to a slightly increased risk for schizophrenia.

[16] In the early 20th century, a medical treatment for mental illness, first developed by Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz, involved damaging the pathways connecting the frontal lobe to the limbic system.

The indiscriminate use of this psychosurgical procedure, combined with its severe side effects and a mortality rate of 7.4 to 17 per cent,[17] earned it a bad reputation.

Many scientists had thought that the frontal lobe was disproportionately enlarged in humans compared to other primates.

[22] The higher cognition of the humans is instead seen to relate to a greater connectedness given by neural tracts that do not affect the cortical volume.