Working memory
Patients with damaged frontal lobes often complain of minimal to substantial memory loss. Because of this, frontal lobe injuries have long been associated with memory problems, despite little evidence actually showing this relation to be true. In fact, when patients with such injuries are tested using standard memory tests, they often score within normal. Close relatives of these same patients, however, may describe substantial memory problems. The disparity occurs because it is not the memory system itself that is affected, but the functions of the frontal lobe that facilitate working memory. Working memory is closely involved with the ability to hold attention. Working memory is not simply how much information you can maintain in a brief period of time; this describes primary memory, and a small part of working memory relates to it. The important part of working memory is secondary memory, in which an individual retrieves information. Those with high working memory are able to perform this retrieval even when distracted by another task. Patients with damaged frontal lobes show lower working memory and, therefore, a lessened ability to retrieve information from their secondary memory.