Psychology2016

84 CHAPTER 2

Table 2. 2 Specialization of the Two Hemispheres

Left Hemisphere Right Hemisphere

Controls the right hand Controls the left hand

Spoken language Nonverbal

Written language Visual–spatial perception

Mathematical calculations Music and artistic processing

Logical thought processes Emotional thought and recognition

Analysis of detail Processes the whole

Reading Pattern recognition

Facial recognition

of the integrated mind, and he continues to work in related areas including human con-

sciousness, perception, and neuroethics ( Gazzaniga, 2006, 2009).

HANDEDNESS The separate functions of the left and right sides of the brain are often

confused with handedness, or the tendency to use one hand for most fine motor skills.

Roughly 90% of individuals are right handed, and handedness appears to be influenced

largely through genetics (Corballis, 2009; Ocklenburg et al., 2013). While most right-

handed people also have their left hemisphere in control of their other fine motor skills,

such as speech, a few right-handers actually have their language functions in the right

hemisphere, in spite of the dominance of the left hemisphere for controlling the right

hand. Among left-handed people, there are also many who, although right-brain dom-

inant for motor control, still have their language functions on the left side of the brain.

One study suggests approximately 4% of right-handed, 15% of ambidextrous, and 27% of

left-handed people have language functions in the right hemisphere (Knecht et al., 2000).

Concept Map LO. 2.10, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 2.14

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the hindbrain

medulla

pons

reticular formation

cerebellum

thalamus

hypothalamus

hippocampus

amygdala

structures under the cortex

limbic system

The Structures of the Brain

frontal lobes

temporal lobes

parietal lobes

occipital lobes

Broca’s area: found in left

frontal lobe; devoted to

speech production;

damage to this area can

result in Broca's aphasia

Wernicke’s area:

found in the left temporal

lobe; plays a role in

understanding

the meaning of words

the cortex

the outermost, wrinkled

layer of the brain;

comprised of left and right

hemispheres, connected

by corpus callosum; each

hemisphere can be further

divided into four lobes

the association

areas of the cortex

devoted to making connections

between incoming sensory

information and stored

memories, images, and

knowledge; damage to right

association areas can result in

spatial neglect where person

fails to recognize the left side of

the visual field

left hemisphere specializes in tasks that involve sequence

and analysis (language, speech, handwriting, math)

right hemisphere processes information in a more

global sense (perception; visualization; spatial perception;

recognition of patterns, faces, and emotional expression)

the cerebral hemispheres

some brain functions governed by one hemisphere more than

the other; differences found due to work of various researchers

(e.g., split-brain studies)