Questions and Answers
What does lateralization refer to?
Hemisphere dominance for personality is a fact.
False
What is hemispherectomy most effective for?
Rasmussen's syndrome and seizures in one hemisphere.
What happens in the split brain condition?
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Match the following visual fields with their corresponding actions:
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What role do prenatal androgens play in lateralization?
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What is generally true about the planum temporale?
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Anecdotal evidence suggests girls begin speaking younger and have larger vocabularies.
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What does meta-analysis reveal about gender differences in handedness?
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What functions does the right hemisphere control?
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What functions does the left hemisphere control?
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Why do we have a hand preference?
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Study Notes
Lateralization of Functions
- Lateralization refers to the localization of brain functions in either the left or right hemisphere.
Myth vs Fact
- Hemisphere Dominance for personality traits is a myth; specific functions do exhibit lateralization.
Hemispherectomy
- Effective treatment for Rasmussen's syndrome, which involves seizures in one hemisphere of the brain.
The Split Brain
- Condition where neural pathways between the cerebral hemispheres are severed.
- Research by Bogen demonstrated no changes in personality, intelligence, or speech post-surgery.
- Reports of unusual behaviors, including the phenomenon known as "alien hand."
- Gazzaniga and Sperry also contributed to understanding this condition.
Left Visual Field
- Stimuli in the left visual field can prompt movement of the right arm and verbalization.
Right Visual Field
- Stimuli in the right visual field leads to movement of the left arm and the ability to draw or use objects.
Development of Lateralization
- Prenatal androgens influence lateralization; more males tend to be left-handed.
- Females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are more likely to be left-handed.
- Hemispheric asymmetry has implications for behavior, handedness, language, and musical abilities.
- Dichotic listening tasks provide evidence for lateralization, including prosody in language.
The Planum Temporale
- The left planum temporale is typically larger than the right in most individuals.
- In musicians with perfect pitch, this size difference is even more pronounced, suggesting a left-hemisphere mediation for perfect pitch.
Anecdotally
- Girls generally start speaking earlier, have larger vocabularies, perform better in reading, and receive fewer diagnoses for language disabilities.
Meta-Analysis
- Studies confirm a gender difference in handedness but find no significant discrepancies in lateralization of language or structural brain symmetry.
Right Hemisphere
- Responsible for motor control of the left side of the body and processing left visual field information.
- Exhibits a left-ear advantage in dichotic listening tasks.
- Involved in prosody, music, intuition, spatial relations, and artistic abilities.
Left Hemisphere
- Controls motor functions for the right side of the body and processes information from the right visual field.
- Shows a right-ear advantage in dichotic listening tasks.
- Plays a central role in language, mathematical tasks, and logical processing.
Why do we have a hand preference?
- About 90% of individuals are right-handed, while roughly 10% are left-handed.
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Description
Test your knowledge on the lateralization of brain functions with this quiz. Explore key concepts such as hemisphere dominance and treatments like hemispherectomy. Challenge yourself with flashcards that differentiate between myth and fact in brain function localization.
