Symptoms Listed by Areas of the Brain

Below are examples of some of the problems caused by tumours in different parts of the brain:

FRONTAL TUMOURS can cause disinterest in your surroundings, mood swings, changes in moral and ethical judgement and intellectual impairment. Short term memory (memory of recent events) may be affected.

PARIETAL TUMOURS can result in sensory illusions (such as feelings of 'pins and needles'), inability to recognise objects by touch, inability to distinguish right from left and difficulty reading.

TEMPORAL TUMOURS which are frequently 'silent' unless they reach a significant size, can cause a dreamy 'deja vu' state. Also, aphasia, or the loss of ability to understand language, is usually associated with this area.

OCCIPITAL TUMOURS can cause disturbance in vision and visual memory. There may be double vision, visual hallucinations or partial loss of vision.

OPTIC NERVE TUMOURS reduce visual accuracy and can lead to blindness.

CEREBELLO-PONTINE ANGLE TUMOURS (such as acoustic neuromas) cause pressure on the Cranial nerve. Ringing in the ears or hearing loss (especially in using the telephone) can occur.

Brain Stem TUMOURS can affect tongue movements and cause difficulty with swallowing or speaking. Unusual eye movements can cause dizziness or unsteadiness in walking.

HYPOTHALAMIC AND PITUITARY TUMOURS can affect appetite and food intake. Pituitary Tumours can cause excess or under activity of some hormones. This can effect women's menstrual cycle and sometimes cause breast milk. Growth hormones and thyroid hormones may also be affected.

Posterior FOSSA TUMOURS (such as choroid plexus, fourth ventricle and cerebellar tumours) may cause tremors or a lack of co-ordination in walking. Nausea (feeling sick) may also occur.

This information is reproduced with the kind permission of Brain Tumour UK