The brain is divided into four major lobes: the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. These regions are identified primarily on the cerebral cortex, the folded outer layer of the cerebrum.
The frontal lobe is associated with planning, decision-making, voluntary movement, speech production and aspects of personality. The parietal lobe processes touch and other body sensations while also helping the brain understand spatial relationships. The temporal lobe contributes to hearing, language comprehension and memory. The occipital lobe, at the back of the brain, is chiefly involved in processing visual information.
Each cerebral hemisphere has these four major lobes, so “four” refers to the standard anatomical classification rather than four total regions in the entire brain. The lobes are separated by prominent grooves called sulci, including the central and lateral sulci.
A common source of confusion is that some anatomical descriptions also discuss the insular lobe or a limbic lobe. Those structures are not usually included in the basic four-lobe answer used in general biology quizzes, making four the standard canonical response.