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The Right Hand Man: Manual Laterality and Language

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Behavioral Lateralization in Vertebrates

Abstract

Investigations of human laterality suggest motor preference is not arbitrary, but rather represents an evolutionary bias stemming from the asymmetric organization of underlying neural function for skilled action. The most prominent manifestation of lateralized motor behavior in humans is right-handedness. While human right-handedness provides a highly reliable marker for the brain organization of left hemisphere language function, the causal evolutionary link between the two remains highly controversial. Once considered a unique hallmark of human evolution, structural neuroanatomical investigations have now revealed homologous asymmetric language regions (larger left hemisphere) in great apes, providing evidence for a common mechanism underlying communication processes in humans and apes. However, whether this translates into a handedness bias in great apes remains highly controversial. This chapter discusses the unique characteristics of human and non-human primate handedness within an evolutionary framework and explores new manual laterality findings, celebrating the emergence of multimodal, quantitative methodologies aimed at bridging the gap between studies of brain and behavior.

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Abbreviations

MDM:

Multidimensional method

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London, W1B 2UW, UK

    Gillian S. Forrester

  2. Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, 38068, Rovereto, Italy

    Caterina Quaresmini

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  1. Gillian S. Forrester
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  2. Caterina Quaresmini
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Correspondence to Gillian S. Forrester .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Evolutionary and Functiona, University of Parma, Via Farini 90, Parma, 43121, Italy

    Davide Csermely

  2. , Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy, Via Venezia 10, Padua, 35131, Italy

    Lucia Regolin

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Forrester, G.S., Quaresmini, C. (2013). The Right Hand Man: Manual Laterality and Language. In: Csermely, D., Regolin, L. (eds) Behavioral Lateralization in Vertebrates. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30203-9_9

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