The frontal lobe is a relatively large area of the cortex in the front part of the brain. It is involved in many of our social-emotional behaviours such as recognising how to respond when someone laughs. The frontal lobe also contains areas that control different parts of the body. This section, called the motor cortex is located in a strip along the back edge of the frontal lobe. More of the cortex is devoted to parts of the body we have fine control over like lips, fingers and tongue.

The parietal Lobe contains the somatosensory cortex, which receives sensations such as touch, pain and temperature. This area is also involved in integrating visual input and in monitoring the body's position in space.

The temporal lobe is critical to hearing and speech. This area includes the primary auditory cortex, which transforms meaningless sensations into sounds that signify things.

The occipital lobe is located at the back of the brain and is involved in vision. The primary visual cortex is a small area at the back of each occipital lobe, which receives sensory information from the visual receptors and transforms that information into visual perceptions.

While it may seem initially that these have little to do with emotions, it is important to remember that messages we receive about the world come via this channel. The way we respond to these messages also goes via these channels.