Where Is the Anterior Temporal Lobe and What Does It Do?

The anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is thought to be critical for semantic memory—our knowledge of objects, people, words, and facts. However, there is substantial disagreement over the precise role of the ATL in semantic memory, and there is considerable variability in the anatomic findings that link the ATL with semantic processing. The inconsistent findings across studies may be related to the diverse anatomic structures within the ATL and their differential contribution to distinct modalities of semantic information (e.g., visual, auditory, affective).