Final answer:
Damage to the frontal lobe can lead to difficulties with planning, emotional regulation, and judgment, as the prefrontal cortex within this region is crucial for these functions.
Step-by-step explanation:
People with damage to their frontal lobe will have trouble responding to external cues, which is largely due to the prefrontal cortex within this region being responsible for important functions such as planning, judgment, reasoning, and working memory. This can manifest in behaviors including difficulty controlling emotional impulses, changes in personality, mood, and behavior, all of which were observed in the famous case of Phineas Gage after he suffered a severe frontal lobe injury. Damage to the frontal lobe also impacts executive functions like abstract thought, self-control, and the capacity to carry out intentions, made evident by impairments in performing mental status exam subtests that assess judgment and reasoning.