I. Hemispheric dominance: Evidence suggest that the hemispheres may
control slightly different types of thinking and
behavior and have different
abilities.
1. Damage to the left hemisphere is more often associated
with loss of
control of language (Broca noticed
this in 1861).
A. Broca's aphasia (nonfluent aphasia):
B. Wernicke's aphasia (fluent aphasia):
2. Sperry and coworkers severed the corpus callosum to reduce
the severity of
epileptic seizures in some individuals.
This procedure disconnects the
hemispheres to a large extent (thus, we can
better distinguish their unique
abilities)
3. damage to the right hemisphere results in
A. problems interpreting emotions
B. visual spatial abilities are impaired
4. do the brain hemispheres look different
A. planum temporale (part of temporal lobe cortex) is bigger
usually on the left
5. handedness:
6. in summary results from dominance research indicates
II. Some brain disorders are reflected in severe language deficits
with otherwise
normal intelligence or visa versa with Williams
Syndrome
1. dyslexia: problems reading in a person with adequate vision
& adequate
academic skills in other areas.