Abstract
Functional asymmetry of the two cerebral hemispheres is a major characteristic of human brain organization and cognition. This phenomenon is also termed cerebral dominance, functional or brain lateralization, and hemispheric specialization. These terms all refer to the fact that the right and left hemispheres have different roles in mediating behavior and higher mental processes or cognition. In general terms, speech, language, and praxic (motor planning) skills are dependent on left hemisphere functioning, whereas spatial skills are dependent on right hemisphere processing. Functional asymmetry exists not only in adults, but also in young children and infants and, at least to some extent, in some nonhuman species.
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Further reading
Bradshaw JL, Nettleton NC (1983): Human Cerebral Asymmetry. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
Galaburda AM, et al (1978): Human brain: Cytoarchitectonic left-right asymmetries in the temporal speech region. Arch Neurol 35:812–817.
Witelson SF (1977): Anatomic asymmetry in the temporal lobes: Its documentation, phylogenesis and relationship to functional asymmetry. Ann NY Acad Sci 299:328–354.
Witelson SF (1985): 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.
Witelson SF (1985): The brain connection: The corpus callosum is larger in left-handers. Science 229:665–668.
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© 1989 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Witelson, S.F. (1989). Brain Asymmetry, Functional Aspects. In: Speech and Language. Readings from the Encyclopedia of Neuroscience . Birkhäuser, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6774-9_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6774-9_6
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-8176-3400-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-6774-9
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