Re:TheAshLad - Sandbooks

ASYMMETRY. A striking feature of the organization of the human
brain is that. the two hemispheres of the human brain are anatomically
and. functionally asymmetrical.The asymmetries in structure are
visible. not only in an overall view but also at the level of the
morphology of. the individual neuronand the asymme tries in function
exist not only. in neurological patients but also in the normal
brain.Although there. is little disagreement about the facts of
asymmetry in the human. brainthere is considerable disagreement about
why the two hemi. spheres are asymmetrical and about what the
asymmetry means in regard. how we humans process information..
Laterality leads to the notion that two different minds control our.
behavior.. The left hemisphere plays a special role in producing and.
understanding language.. whereas the right hemisphere specializes in.
perceiving and synthesizing nonverbal information... Overallanatomical
asymmetries center on the language areasand it. is tempting to speculate
that they evolved to subserve. language.Moreoverthese asymmetries are
present in preterm. infantswhich seems to support the proposition that
language is innate. in humans.. With all the emphasis on finding
anatomical asymmetries that can be. asso ciated with languageresearch
on righthemisphere function has. lagged.If the left hemisphere has
asymmetries related to languagethen. the right hemi sphere must have
specialized for some other. function.After allthe two hemi spheres are
quite similar in size and. other symmetriesit is not as though language
areas evolved on the. left and nothing happened on the right..
Stimulation can produce what Penfield called interpretive and.
experiential responses.These uncommon but often highly reliable.
phenomena include alterations in the interpretation of the patient s.
surroundingssuch as deja vufearand dreaming states and the.
reproduction of visual or auditory aspects of specific earlier.
experiences.That patients report specific memories in response to.
specific stimulation. These phenomena usually arise from tissue.
showing epileptogenic dischargebut there is an asymmetry in their.
occurrencestimulation of the right temporal lobe produces these.
phenomena more frequently than does stimulation of the left temporal.
lobewhich suggests that the right hemisphere has perceptual functions.
not shared by the left.. Disruption of speech is a welldocumented effect
of stimulation of. the left hemispherebut only recently has stimulation
of the right. hemisphere been shown to disrupt behavior.Ojemann and
his colleagues. reported that stimulation of the right hemisphere
disrupts judgments. of line orientationlabeling of facial expressionsand
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