The parietal lobe lies behind the frontal lobe and above the occipital and temporal lobes. It processes tactile information, spatial awareness, and the integration of sensory input from different modalities.

The primary somatosensory cortex, located on the postcentral gyrus, receives organized input from the skin, muscles, and joints. A distorted map of the body appears there, with larger areas devoted to the hands, face, and other sensitive regions. Posterior parietal areas contribute to spatial attention, the guidance of movement in space, and the sense of one’s own body. Damage can produce neglect of one side of space, difficulty reaching accurately, or problems with arithmetic and spatial reasoning.

The parietal lobes work closely with frontal regions in planning actions and with occipital and temporal regions in constructing a coherent perceptual world. They are essential for the feeling of inhabiting a body that occupies a particular place.

When you know where your hand is and where an object is relative to it, the parietal lobe is heavily involved.