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Temporal Lobe - GCSE Psychology Definition

Reviewed by: Claire Neeson

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What is the temporal lobe?

In GCSE Psychology, the temporal lobe is a region of the brain that is located on both sides of the brain (around where the ears are located on the head).

Diagram of brain showing areas: motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, visual cortex, auditory area, Wernicke's area, and Broca's area. Labels indicate functions.
Diagram of the brain

The temporal lobe is responsible for auditory processing, e.g., hearing (located in the auditory cortex), language comprehension  (particularly Wernicke's area, which is located in the left hemisphere of the temporal lobe), memory retrieval and the processing of emotions.

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Claire Neeson

Reviewer: Claire Neeson

Expertise: Psychology Content Creator

Claire has been teaching for 34 years, in the UK and overseas. She has taught GCSE, A-level and IB Psychology which has been a lot of fun and extremely exhausting! Claire is now a freelance Psychology teacher and content creator, producing textbooks, revision notes and (hopefully) exciting and interactive teaching materials for use in the classroom and for exam prep. Her passion (apart from Psychology of course) is roller skating and when she is not working (or watching 'Coronation Street') she can be found busting some impressive moves on her local roller rink.

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