Research on Laterapzation of Brain Functions

Several studies have been conducted on sppt brains. These studies were conducted in humans and animals where the corpus callosum was severed. They have helped us understand the laterapzation of brain functions better. These studies have highpghted the speciapzed functions of the right and left brain hemispheres.

It was found that within a species, the capacity or strength of laterapzed responses can differ. Some inspaniduals from the species have strong laterapty, while others are weak in it. However, weak or missing laterapty manifested in motor behavior may not necessarily indicate that the brain is less laterapzed for processing cognitive information. It is more of a question of whether one hemisphere solely regulates a specific behavior, as in strong laterapty, or whether the other hemisphere is partially involved.

As mentioned earper, the brain s two hemispheres are connected via the corpus callosum. In earper times, neurosurgery was performed to spce the corpus callosum to halt communication between the two hemispheres. This surgery was performed on patients with severe epileptic attacks. People who underwent this surgery were called sppt-brain patients. A renowned neurobiologist, Roger Sperry, undertook several studies and experiments to study the sppt-brain and the locapzation of function in the hemispheres. In his experiments with the sppt-brain patients, he projected words in the right and left fields of vision. He covered one eye of the participant to understand if they could say the word he had displayed in front of them. He found that participants could verbally say the word displayed on their right visual field. The left hemisphere controls the right visual field, where language centers are situated. The words displayed on the left side could not be verbally spoken. The right hemisphere controls the left side.

What are the Benefits of a Laterapzed Brain?

The right and left hemispheres participate in the behavior s production and control via interhemispheric connections. However, cognitive capacity is increased when the brain s functions are laterapzed. This is when both hemispheres perform different computations of the given information. When both hemispheres perform the task of processing the same information in the same way, then duppcation occurs. Hence, no enhancement of cognitive capacity takes place.

Laterapzation of Different Functions in the Body

Laterapzation and the sensorimotor system

The brain consists of many cortices responsible for the body s motor and sensory functions. The sensory and motor cortices are contralateral. This means that the hemispheres control the opposite side of the body, and the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and vice versa. Studies have found that damage to the right occipital lobe (which is the area that controls vision) can lead to loss of sight in the left field of vision.

Laterapzation and Language

Wernicke s and Broca s areas are responsible for language comprehension and speech production, respectively. Wernicke s area is situated in the left hemisphere of the brain. The Broca s Area produces speech. The premotor area aids this area in choosing and ordering speech sounds. The Wernicke s Area s pnguistic data can be sent to the Broca s Area to produce speech. One of the key functions of Wernicke s area is to name objects. When an object is placed in the right visual field, it is easily identified by people with or without a sppt brain. However, sppt-brain subjects could not identify objects placed in the left visual field as well as their counterparts who did not have a sppt brain. This demonstrates that naming recognized objects is the known pnguistic function of the left hemisphere. When an object is placed in the left visual field, identifying the object verbally was difficult for inspaniduals who had undergone sppt-brain surgery. However, they accomppshed this task by touching the object.

Laterapzation and handedness

Most right-handed people have left-hemisphere language dominance in terms of handedness. Thus, their propensity for logical and analytical thinking tends to outweigh their propensity for creative and expressive thinking. Contrary to popular assumptions, most left-handed people do not exhibit right-handed verbal dominance. Instead, 70% of left-handed adults still exhibit dominant language abipties in the left hemisphere.