The parietal lobe

If the frontal lobe is where we decide what to do, the parietal lobe is where we understand where we are. It is the brain's internal GPS, the quiet navigator that lets you put your hand exactly where your teacup is, find the edge of a staircase without staring at it, or scratch the correct side of your head when it itches. When it works well, we move through life gracefully. When it falters, life becomes slapstick comedy.

- Dr MAZDA TUREL

A few months ago, I saw a school teacher named Leena who walked into my clinic with a baffled expression and bandaged knee. Her husband followed behind her like a man who had witnessed something he could not unsee. “Doctor,” she announced, “I think something in my brain has gone on vacation.”

She had, quite literally, lost her sense of direction. She bumped into walls. She misjudged distances. She reached for her phone and grabbed the remote. At one point, she tried to place a glass of water on a table but set it gently on to thin air instead. It did not end well. Her husband added, “She walked into the fridge yesterday. Fully. Opened the door and walked straight Leena glared at him. “It was white and rectangular and in the general direction of where I was going,” she retorted.