On the biological basis of human laterality: II. The mechanisms of inheritance

1978 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Morgan ◽  
Michael C. Corballis
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Control ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
General Context ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Random Fashion ◽  
The Right

AbstractThis paper focuses on the inheritance of human handedness and cerebral lateralization within the more general context of structural biological asymmetries. The morphogenesis of asymmetrical structures, such as the heart in vertebrates, depends upon a complex interaction between information coded in the cytoplasm and in the genes, but the polarity of asymmetry seems to depend on the cytoplasmic rather than the genetic code. Indeed it is extremely difficult to find clear-cut examples in which the direction of an asymmetry is under genetic control. As one possible case, there is some evidence that the direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, of rotation of the abdomen in certain mutant strains of Drosophila is controlled by a particular gene locus, although there appears to be some degree of confusion on this point. By contrast, it is much easier to find examples in which the degree but not the direction of asymmetry is under genetic control. For instance, there is a mutant strain of mice in which half of the animals display situs inversus of the viscera. The proportion has remained at one half despite many years of inbreeding, suggesting that the mutant allele effectively cancels the normal situs and allows the asymmetry to be specified in random fashion.Although this account does not deny that the right hemisphere of humans may be the more specialized for certain functions, it does attribute a leading or dominant role to the left hemisphere (at least in most individuals). We suggest that so-called “right-hemisphere” functions are essentially acquired by default, due to the left hemisphere's prior involvement with speech and skilled motor acts; we note, for instance, that these right-hemisphere functions include rather elementary perceptual processes. But perhaps the more critical prediction from our account is that the phenomenon of equipotentiality should be unidirectional: the right (lagging) hemisphere should be more disposed to take over left-hemisphere functions following early lesions than is the left (leading) hemisphere to take over right-hemisphere functions. We note preliminary evidence that this may be so.

scholarly journals Cerebral Lateralization of the EEG During Perceptual-Motor Integration in Young Adults With Down Syndrome: A Descriptive Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Chia Chen ◽  
Shannon D. R. Ringenbach ◽  
Arielle Biwer ◽  
Abbie Riekena
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Dominant Hand ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Cerebral Laterality ◽  
Eeg Data ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Right ◽  
Performance Results ◽  
Cerebral Processing

Background: This study was aimed at investigating cerebral laterality of perceptual-motor integration in persons with DS. Method: Fourteen persons with DS between the ages of 12-39 drummed with their dominant hand (e.g., right hand) following verbal (i.e., drumming to a voice saying "drum"), rhythm (i.e., drumming to the sound of a drum being hit) and melody (i.e., drumming to the loudest beat) instructions. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data at T3 (left hemisphere) and T4 (right hemisphere) was collected and computed as cerebral specialization coefficients during drumming performance. Results: It seems like that our results were consistent with the model of atypical hemisphere processing of verbal information in the right hemisphere in persons with DS, which is opposite to the typical population (Elliott et al., 1987). In addition, the results showed that melody instructions were right hemisphere specialized and rhythm instruction was left hemisphere specialized in persons with DS. Conclusions: This is the first study to systematically examine verbal, rhythm and melody processing in persons with DS. Rhythm and melody are two main components of music. Therefore, these results are promising for understanding mechanisms underlying cerebral processing as well as music therapy for persons with DS.

scholarly journals Handedness Does Not Impact Inhibitory Control, but Movement Execution and Reactive Inhibition Are More under a Left-Hemisphere Control

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1602
Author(s):  
Christian Mancini ◽  
Giovanni Mirabella
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Arm Movement ◽  
Proactive Inhibition ◽  
Stop Signal Task ◽  
The Right

The relationship between handedness, laterality, and inhibitory control is a valuable benchmark for testing the hypothesis of the right-hemispheric specialization of inhibition. According to this theory, and given that to stop a limb movement, it is sufficient to alter the activity of the contralateral hemisphere, then suppressing a left arm movement should be faster than suppressing a right-arm movement. This is because, in the latter case, inhibitory commands produced in the right hemisphere should be sent to the other hemisphere. Further, as lateralization of cognitive functions in left-handers is less pronounced than in right-handers, in the former, the inhibitory control should rely on both hemispheres. We tested these predictions on a medium-large sample of left- and right-handers (n = 52). Each participant completed two sessions of the reaching versions of the stop-signal task, one using the right arm and one using the left arm. We found that reactive and proactive inhibition do not differ according to handedness. However, we found a significant advantage of the right versus the left arm in canceling movements outright. By contrast, there were no differences in proactive inhibition. As we also found that participants performed movements faster with the right than with the left arm, we interpret our results in light of the dominant role of the left hemisphere in some aspects of motor control.

Dichaptic Scanning of Braille Letters by Skilled Blind Readers: Lateralization Effects

1996 ◽  
Vol 82 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1071-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Semenza ◽  
Marina Zoppello ◽  
Ornella Gidiuli ◽  
Francesca Borgo
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Spatial Code ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Tactile Modality ◽  
The Right ◽  
Linguistic Material

Dichaptic scanning of Braille letters was studied in 14 skilled blind readers, using Posner's paradigm. A right-hand (left-hemisphere) advantage was found when letters could be matched on the basis of their names (Name Identity Condition), a genuinely linguistic task, while no effects of lateralization appeared when matching could be performed on the basis of perceptual identity (Perceptual Identity Condition) or on “Different” responses. This result provides information about the cerebral lateralization of Braille reading and casts doubts about the current claim that linguistic material, when presented in the tactile modality, is initially analysed in a spatial code by the right hemisphere.

The nature of hemispheric specialization in man

1981 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Bradshaw ◽  
N. C. Nettleton
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Temporal Order ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Verbal Processing ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right

AbstractThe traditional verbal/nonverbal dichotomy is inadequate for completely describing cerebral lateralization. Musical functions are not necessarily mediated by the right hemisphere; evidence for a specialist left-hemisphere mechanism dedicated to the encoded speech signal is weakening, and the right hemisphere possesses considerable comprehensional powers. Right-hemisphere processing is often said to be characterized by holistic or gestalt apprehension, and face recognition may be mediated by this hemisphere partly because of these powers, partly because of the right hemisphere's involvement in emotional affect, and possibly through the hypothesized existence of a specialist face processor or processors in the right. The latter hypothesis may, however, suffer the same fate as the one relating to a specialist encodedness processor for speech in the left. Verbal processing is largely the province of the left because of this hemisphere's possession of sequential, analytic, time-dependent mechanisms. Other distinctions (e.g., focal/diffuse and serial/parallel) are special cases of an analytic/holistic dichotomy. More fundamentally, however, the left hemisphere is characterized by its mediation of discriminations involving duration, temporal order, sequencing, and rhythm, at thesensory(tactual, visual, and, above all, auditory) level, and especially at themotorlevel (for fingers, limbs, and, above all, the speech apparatus). Spatial aspects characterize the right, the mapping of exteroceptive body space, and the positions of fingers, limbs, and perhaps articulators, with respect to actual and target positions. Thus there is a continuum of function between the hemispheres, rather than a rigid dichotomy, the differences being quantitative rather than qualitative, of degree rather than of kind.

Variation in lateralization: Selected samples do not a population make

1981 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry E. Robinson ◽  
Jill B. Becker
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Consistent Pattern ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
The Right ◽  
Affective Information

The two major points of Denenberg's article are (1) that animals have lateralized brains, and (2) that the pattern of cerebral lateralization is consistent across species (i.e., “the left hemisphere will be primarily involved in communicative functions,” the right hemisphere with processing “spatial and affective information.” In addition, there is an unstated assumption that the pattern of lateralization is consistent within species. The evidence reviewed by Denenberg leaves little doubt that nonhuman animals have asymmetrically organized brains. However, there are problems with the suggestion that there is a consistent pattern of cerebral lateralization within or across different populations of species.

scholarly journals Laterality in Responses to Acoustic Stimuli in Giant Pandas

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 774
Author(s):  
He Liu ◽  
Yezhong Tang ◽  
Yanxia Ni ◽  
Guangzhan Fang
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Ailuropoda Melanoleuca ◽  
Head Turning ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Giant Pandas ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Acoustic Stimuli ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Right

Cerebral lateralization is a common feature present in many vertebrates and is often observed in response to various sensory stimuli. Numerous studies have proposed that some vertebrate species have a right hemisphere or left hemisphere dominance in response to specific types of acoustic stimuli. We investigated lateralization of eight giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) by using a head turning paradigm and twenty-eight acoustic stimuli with different emotional valences which included twenty-four conspecific and four non-conspecific acoustic stimuli (white noise, thunder, and vocalization of a predator). There was no significant difference in auditory laterality in responses to conspecific or non-conspecific sounds. However, the left cerebral hemisphere processed the positive stimuli, whereas neither of the two hemispheres exhibited a preference for processing the negative stimuli. Furthermore, the right hemisphere was faster than the left hemisphere in processing emotional stimuli and conspecific stimuli. These findings demonstrate that giant pandas exhibit lateralization in response to different acoustic stimuli, which provides evidence of hemispheric asymmetry in this species.

scholarly journals Cerebral Lateralization of the EEG During Perceptual-Motor Integration in Young Adults With Down Syndrome: A Descriptive Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Chia Chen ◽  
Shannon D. R. Ringenbach ◽  
Arielle Biwer ◽  
Abbie Riekena
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Dominant Hand ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Cerebral Laterality ◽  
Eeg Data ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Right ◽  
Performance Results ◽  
Cerebral Processing

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Background: This study was aimed at investigating cerebral laterality of perceptual-motor integration in persons with DS. Method: Fourteen persons with DS between the ages of 12-39 drummed with their dominant hand (e.g., right hand) following verbal (i.e., drumming to a voice saying "drum"), rhythm (i.e., drumming to the sound of a drum being hit) and melody (i.e., drumming to the loudest beat) instructions. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data at T3 (left hemisphere) and T4 (right hemisphere) was collected and computed as cerebral specialization coefficients during drumming performance. Results: It seems like that our results were consistent with the model of atypical hemisphere processing of verbal information in the right hemisphere in persons with DS, which is opposite to the typical population (Elliott et al., 1987). In addition, the results showed that melody instructions were right hemisphere specialized and rhythm instruction was left hemisphere specialized in persons with DS. Conclusions: This is the first study to systematically examine verbal, rhythm and melody processing in persons with DS. Rhythm and melody are two main components of music. Therefore, these results are promising for understanding mechanisms underlying cerebral processing as well as music therapy for persons with DS.</span></p>

The study of cerebral lateralization of global-local visual processing inobsessive-compulsive patients

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 966-966
Author(s):  
N. Fath ◽  
M.A. Goodarzi
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Repeated Measure ◽  
Repeated Measure Design ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Measure Design ◽  
Local Interference ◽  
The Right

IntroductionObsessive-compulsive patients have many problems in their processing.ObjectivesThey have a local processing than global processing. They focoused on the local aspect of world.AimsThe purpose of this study was to examine cerebral lateralization of global-local visual processing in obsessive-compulsive patients.MethodsAll participants were right handed. Participants completed Edinburgh, the padua, Beck Depression and the Anxiety Inventories and computer task. The repeated measure design of 2(2×3×2) was used to analyze the reaction time data, and the repeated measure design of 2(2×2) was used to analyze the interference data.ResultsResults indicated that OC patients were generally faster in local stimuli processing than global stimuli processing. Also in patient’s group, global stimuli (incongruent) processing contrary to local stimuli (incongruent) processing in the right hemisphere was faster than that of the left hemisphere, a result consistent with previous literature for normal people. In patient’s group, global-to-local interference contrary to local-to-global interference in the right hemisphere was greater than that of the left hemisphere, but in normal’s group, interference pattern in two hemispheres showed no significant differences. In addition, local to global interference in the left hemisphere of normal’s group was greater than that of the patient’s group, but these differences was not significant. Also results showed similar global-to-local interference in normal and patient’s group.ConclusionsIn general, the results of this study show that OC patients are faster in processing of local stimuli than global stimuli. However, this can not be attributed to a dysfunctional hemisphere.

Investigation of the Effect of Mode and Tempo on Emotional Responses to Music Using EEG Power Asymmetry

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 142-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Trochidis ◽  
Emmanuel Bigand
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Eeg Activity ◽  
Musical Excerpt ◽  
Major Mode ◽  
Musical Modes ◽  
Slow Tempo ◽  
The Right

The combined interactions of mode and tempo on emotional responses to music were investigated using both self-reports and electroencephalogram (EEG) activity. A musical excerpt was performed in three different modes and tempi. Participants rated the emotional content of the resulting nine stimuli and their EEG activity was recorded. Musical modes influence the valence of emotion with major mode being evaluated happier and more serene, than minor and locrian modes. In EEG frontal activity, major mode was associated with an increased alpha activation in the left hemisphere compared to minor and locrian modes, which, in turn, induced increased activation in the right hemisphere. The tempo modulates the arousal value of emotion with faster tempi associated with stronger feeling of happiness and anger and this effect is associated in EEG with an increase of frontal activation in the left hemisphere. By contrast, slow tempo induced decreased frontal activation in the left hemisphere. Some interactive effects were found between mode and tempo: An increase of tempo modulated the emotion differently depending on the mode of the piece.

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