Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Neuroanatomical Bases of Hemispheric Functional Specialization in the Human Brain: Developmental Factors

  • Chapter
Neurodevelopment, Aging and Cognition

Abstract

Hemispheric functional specialization or functional asymmetry is a wellestablished characteristic of functional organization in the human brain. In essence, the right and left hemispheres have different roles in mediating various behaviors and higher mental processes. Tasks involving speech production, phonemic discrimination, comprehension of oral and written language, ability to write, performance of voluntary finger, limb, and oral movements, and perception of sequences of stimuli are more dependent on left- than right-hemisphere functioning in most people. In contrast, tasks involving the perception of two- and three-dimensional visual or tactual shapes, spatial position and orientation of stimuli, perception of faces and colors, mental rotation of three-dimensional shapes, the ability to direct attention to both lateral sensory fields, perception of musical chords and melodies, perception of emotional stimuli and prosodic aspects of speech, the ability to dress oneself and to construct block models are more dependent on the right hemisphere. In the past decade, numerous books have summarized these findings based on the study of brain-damaged people with unilateral lesions, people with commissurotomy, and neurologically intact people who were tested with various behavioral and perceptual tests involving right- and left-sided input or output (e.g., Beaton, 1985; Boller and Grafman, 1988-90; Bradshaw and Nettleton, 1983; Bryden, 1982; Corballis, 1983; Damasio and Damasio, 1990; Geschwind and Galaburda, 1984; Hannay, 1986; Heilman and Valenstein, 1985; Hellige, 1983; Kolb and Whishaw, 1990; Molfese and Segalowitz, 1988; Ottoson, 1987).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Annett M (1985): Left. Right. Hand and Brain: The Right Shift Theory. New Jersey: Erlbaum

    Google Scholar 

  • Bean RB (1906): Some racial peculiarities of the Negro brain. American Journal of Anatomy 5:353–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaton A (1985): Left Side. Right Side: A Review of Laterality Research. London: Batsford

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell AD, Variend S (1985): Failure to demonstrate sexual dimorphism of the corpus callosum in childhood. Journal of Anatomy 143:143–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertoncini J, Morais J, Bijeljac-Babic R, McAdams S, Peretz I, Mehler J (1989): Dichotic perception and laterality in neonates. Brain and Language 37:591–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boiler F, Grafman J, eds. (1988–1990): Handbook of Neuropsychology, Vols. 1-4, New York: Elsevier Science

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourgeois J-P, Jastreboff PJ, Rakic P (1989): Synaptogenesis in visual cortex of normal and preterm monkeys: Evidence for intrinsic regulation of synaptic over production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 86:4297–4301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw JL, Nettleton NC (1983): Human Cerebral Asymmetry. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown W, Jaffe J (1975): Hypothesis on cerebral dominance. Neuropsychologia 13:107–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryden MP (1982): Laterality. Functional Asymmetry in the Intact Brain. Toronto: Academic Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryden MP, HĂ©caen H, de Agostini M (1983): Patterns of cerebral organization. Brain and Language 20:249–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chije G, Dooling EC, Gilles FH (1977): Gyral development of the human brain. Annals of Neurology 1:86–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke S, Kraftsik R, Innocenti G, van der Loos H (1986): Sexual dimorphism and development of the human corpus callosum. Neuroscience Letters 26:S 299 [Abstract]

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke S, Kraftsik R, Van der Loos H, Innocenti G (1989): Forms and measures of adult and developing human corpus callosum: Is there sexual dimorphism? Journal of Comparative Neurology 280:213–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corballis MC (1983): Human Laterality. New York: Academic Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowan WM, Fawcett JW, O’Leary DDM, Stanfield BB (1984): Regressive events in neurogenesis. Science 225, 1258–1265

    Google Scholar 

  • Damasio H, Damasio A (1990): Lesion Analysis in Neuropsychology Oxford: Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Dehay C, Horsburgh G, Berland M, Killackey H, Kennedy M (1989): Maturation and connectivity of the visual cortex in monkey is altered by prenatal removal of retinal input. Nature 337:265–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dehay C, Kennedy H, Bullier J, Berland M (1988): Absence of interhemispheric connections of area 17 during development in the monkey. Nature 331:348–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Lacoste MC, Holloway RL, Woodward DJ (1986): Sex differences in the fetal human corpus callosum. Human Neurobiology 5:93–96

    Google Scholar 

  • De Lacoste-Utamsing C, Holloway RL (1982): Sexual dimorphism in the human corpus callosum. Science 216:1431–1432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer RS, Alexander MP, Gabriel C, Gould E, Milione J (1991): Reversed lateralization of cognitive functions in right-handers. Brain 114:245–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontes V (1944): Morfologia do Cortex Cerebral. Lisbon

    Google Scholar 

  • Geschwind N, Galaburda AM, eds. (1984): Cerebral Dominance the Biological Foundations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Habib M, Gayraud D, Oliva A, Regis J, Salamon G, Khalil R (1991): Effects of handedness and sex on the morphology of the corpus callosum: A study with brain magnetic resonance imaging. Brain and Cognition 16:41–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton CR, Vermeire BA (1988): Complementary hemispheric specialization in monkeys. Science 242:1691–1694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannay HJ, ed. (1986): Experimental Techniques in Human Neuropsychology. New York: Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • HĂ©caen H, de Agostini M, Monzon-Montes A (1981): Cerebral organization in left-handers. Brain and Language 12:261–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heffner HE, Heffner RS (1986): Effect of unilateral and bilateral auditory cortex lesions on the discrimination of vocalizations by Japanese macaques. Journal of Neurophysiology 56:683–701

    Google Scholar 

  • Heilman KM, Coyle JM, Gonyea EF, Geschwind N (1973): Apraxia and agraphia in a left-hander. Brain 96:21–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heilman KM, Rothi LJG (1985): Apraxia. In: Clinical Neuropsychology, 2nd ed., Heilman KM, Valenstein E, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 131–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Heilman KM, Valenstein E, eds. (1985): Clinical Neuropsychology, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Heilige JB, ed. (1983): Cerebral Hemisphere Asymmetry. Method, Theory, and Application. New York: Praeger

    Google Scholar 

  • Hepper PG, Shahidullah S, White R (1990): Origins of fetal handedness. Nature 347:431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiscock M (1988): Behavioral asymmetries in normal children. In: Brain Lateralization in Children, Molfese DL, Segalowitz SJ, eds. New York: Guilford Press pp. 85–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochberg FH, LeMay M (1975): ArtĂ©riographic correlates of handedness. Neurology 25:218–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Holloway RL, de Lacoste MC (1986): Sexual dimorphism in the human corpus callosum: An extension and replication study. Human Neurobiology 5:87–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyde JS, Linn MC (1988): Gender differences in verbal ability: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 102:53–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hynd GW, Cohen M (1983): Dyslexia: Neuropsychological Theory Research and Clinical Differentiation. Toronto: Grune and Stratton

    Google Scholar 

  • Innocenti GM, Caminiti R (1980): Postnatal shaping of callosal connections from sensory areas. Experimental Brain Research 38:381–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivy GO, Killackey HP (1981): The ontogeny of the distribution of callosal projection neurons in the rat parietal cortex. Journal of Comparative Neurology 195:389–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennard MA (1942): Cortical reorganization of motor function: Studies on series of monkeys of various ages from infancy to maturity. Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry 48:227–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Killackey HP, Chalupa LM (1986): Ontogenetic change in the distribution of callosal projection neurons in the postcentral gyrus of the fetal rhesus monkey. Journal of Comparative Neurology 244:331–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura D, Harshman RA (1984): Sex differences in brain organization for verbal and non-verbal functions. Progress in Brain Research 61:423–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolb B, Whishaw IQ (1990): Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology. 3rd ed. New York: WH Freeman

    Google Scholar 

  • Koppel H, Innocenti GM (1983): Is there a genuine exuberancy of callosal projections in development? A quantitative electron microscopic study in the cat. Neuroscience Letters 41:33–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaMantia A-S, Rakic P (1990a): Cytological and quantitative characteristics of four cerebral commissures in the Rhesus monkey. Journal of Comparative Neurology 291:520–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaMantia A-S, Rakic P (1990b): Axon overproduction and elimination in the corpus callosum of the developing rhesus monkey. Journal of Neuroscience 10:2156–2175

    Google Scholar 

  • LeMay M, Billig MS, Geschwind N (1982): Asymmetries of the brains and skulls of nonhuman primates. In: Primate Brain Evolution, Armstrong E, Falk D, eds. New York: Plenum Press, pp.263–277

    Google Scholar 

  • LeMay M, Culebras A (1972): Human brain-morphologic differences in the hemispheres demonstrable by carotid arteriography. New England Journal of Medicine 287:168–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenneberg EH (1967): Biological Foundations of Language. New York: Wiley

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy J (1985): Interhemispheric collaboration: Single-mindedness in the asymmetric brain. In: Hemispheric Function and Collaboration in the Child, Best C, ed. New York: Academic Press, pp. 11–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy J, Reid M (1978): Variations in cerebral organization as a function of handedness, hand posture in writing, and sex. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 107:119–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindesay J (1987): Laterality shift in homosexual men. Neuropsychologia 25:965–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linn MC, Petersen AC (1985): Emergence and characterization of sex differences in spatial ability: A meta-analysis. Child Development 56:1479–1498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luttenberg J (1965): Contribution to the fetal ontogenesis of the corpus callosum in man. II. Folia Morphologica 13:136–144

    Google Scholar 

  • McCormick CM (1990): A neuropsychological study of sexual orientation: Neu-robiological implications. PhD thesis, McMaster University

    Google Scholar 

  • McCormick CM, Witelson SF, Kingstone E (1990): Left-handedness in homosexual men and women: Neuroendocrine implications. Psychoneuroendocrinol-ogy 15:69–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGlone J (1980): Sex differences in human brain asymmetry: a critical survey. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3:215–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGlone J (1986): The neuropsychology of sex differences in human brain organization. In: Advances in Clinical Neuropsychology, Vol. 3, Goldstein G, Tarter RE, eds. New York: Plenum Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Milner B (1974): Hemispheric specialization: Scope and limits. In: The Neurosciences: Third Study Program,Schmitt FO, Worden FG, eds. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 75–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Molfese DL, Segalowitz SJ, eds. (1988): Brain Lateralization in Children. Developmental Implications. New York: Guilford Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Molliver ME, Kostović I, Van der Loos H (1973): The development of synapses in cerebral cortex of the human fetus. Brain Research 50:402–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moscovitch M (1977): The developmental lateralization of language functions and its relation to cognitive and linguistic development: A review and some theoretical speculations. In: Language Development and Neurological Theory, Segalowitz SJ, Gruber FA, eds. New York: Academic Press, pp. 193–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Netley C, Rovet J (1988): The development of cognition and personality in X aneuploids and other subject groups. In: Brain Lateralization in Children. Developmental Implications, Molfese DL, Segalowitz SJ, eds. New York: Guilford Press, pp. 401–416

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Callaghan MJ, Tudehope DI, Dugdale AE, Mohay H, Burns Y, Cook F (1987): Handedness in children with birth weights below 1000 g. Lancet 1:1155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ottoson D, ed. (1987): Duality and Unity of the Brain. England: MacMillan Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Purves D, Lichtman JW (1985): Principles of Neural Development. Massachusetts: Sinauer Assoc

    Google Scholar 

  • Rakic P, Yakovlev PI (1968): Development of the corpus callosum and cavum septi in man. Journal of Comparative Neurology 132:45–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen T, Milner B (1977): The role of early left-brain injury in determining lateralization of cerebral speech functions. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 299:328–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliff G, Dila C, Taylor L, Milner B (1980): The morphological asymmetry of the hemispheres and cerebral dominance for speech: A possible relationship. Brain and Language 11:87–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sholl SA, Kim KL (1990): Androgen receptors are differentially distributed between right and left cerebral hemispheres of the fetal male rhesus monkey. Brain Research 516:122–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss E, LaPointe JS, Wada JA, Gaddes W, Kosaka B (1985): Language dominance: Correlation of radiological and functional data. Neuropsychologia 23:415–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomasch J (1954): Size distribution, and number of fibres in the human corpus callosum. Anat Record 119:119–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wada JA, Clarke R, Hamm A (1975): Cerebral hemispheric asymmetry in humans. Cortical speech zones in 100 adults and 100 infant brains. Archives of Neurology 32:239–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF (1976): Sex and the single hemisphere: Right hemisphere specialization for spatial processing. Science 193:425–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF (1977a): Developmental dyslexia: Two right hemispheres and none left. Science 195:309–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF (1977b): Early hemisphere specialization and interhemisphere plasticity: An empirical and theoretical review. In: Language Development and Neurological Theory, Segalowitz SJ, Gruber FA, eds. New York: Academic Press, pp. 213–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF (1985a): The brain connection: The corpus callosum is larger in left-handers. Science 229:665–668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF (1985b): On hemisphere specialization and cerebral plasticity from birth. Mark II. In: Hemispheric Function and Collaboration in the Child, Best C, ed. New York: Academic Press, pp. 33–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF (1987): Neurobiological aspects of language in children. Child Development 58:653–688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF (1989): Hand and sex differences in the isthmus and genu of the human corpus callosum: A postmortem morphological study. Brain 112:799–835

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF, Goldsmith CH (1991): The relationship of hand preference to anatomy of the corpus callosum in men. Brain Research 545:175–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF, Kigar DL (1988a): Asymmetry in brain function follows asymmetry in anatomical form: Gross microscopic, postmortem and imaging studies. In: Handbook of Neuropsychology, Vol. 1, Boller F, Grafman J, eds. The Netherlands: Elsevier Science

    Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF, Kigar DL (1988b): Anatomical development of the human corpus callosum: Implications for individual differences and cognition. In: Developmental Implications of Brain Lateralization, Molfese DL, Segalowitz S J, eds. New York: Guilford Press, p. 35–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF, Kigar DL (1990): Hand and sex differences in Sylvian fissure morphology. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 6:381.13

    Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF, McCulloch PB (1991): Method for pre-and post-mortem measurement to study structure-function relations: A normal human brain collection. Schizophrenia Bulletin 583–591; commentary, 593-596

    Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF, Nowakowski RS (1991): Left-out axons make men right: A hypothesis for the origin of handedness and functional symmetry. Neuropsychologia 29:327–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF, Pallie W (1973): Left hemisphere specialization for language in the newborn: Anatomical evidence of asymmetry. Brain 96:641–646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witelson SF, Swallow JA (1988): Neuropsychological study of the development of spatial cognition. In: Spatial Cognition: Brain Bases and Development, Stiles-Davis J, Kritchevsky M, Bellugi U, eds. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 373–409

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Sandra F. Witelson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Anatomy, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, 41000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Ivica Kostović

  2. Dept. of Neurology, University of Zagreb University Hospital Rebro, 41000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Stevo Knežević

  3. NYS Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island, NY, 10314, USA

    Henryk M. Wisniewski

  4. Dept. of Psychology, Washington College, Chestertown, MD, 21620, USA

    George J. Spilich

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1992 Birkhäuser Boston

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Witelson, S.F. (1992). Neuroanatomical Bases of Hemispheric Functional Specialization in the Human Brain: Developmental Factors. In: Kostović, I., Knežević, S., Wisniewski, H.M., Spilich, G.J. (eds) Neurodevelopment, Aging and Cognition. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6805-2_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-6805-2_7

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Boston

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-6807-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-6805-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation