Handling the Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Handling the Brain The initial premise of this web search was to determine what differences, if any, were known to exist in the brain of the ambidextrous individual. An actual classification of "ambidexterity" seems to have been all but eliminated, while the explanation of the term, "handedness", has become increasingly muddled. Beyond superstitions and mysticism, in its earliest history an individuals favoritism of the left or right hand proved significant mainly to those clinicians who utilized this physical clue of handedness as an indicator of brain lateralization (2). Lateralization in general "refers to the concept that a given function is controlled preferentially by one side of the brain or body (5). Brain lateralization further implicates the functional specialization of the two cerebral hemispheres - the left and right - which may be distinct in the localization of neural mechanisms for particular functions (3). The corpus callosum serves as the physical and functional connection between these two cerebral hemispheres. Each hemisphere receives sensory information and controls movement on the side of the body opposite its location. An intact corpus callosum insures communication between the two hemispheres to build a full understanding of actions and perception. In certain extreme cases of severe epileptic seizures a "split-brain operation" is necessary, severing the corpus callosum, which serves to greatly reduce seizure frequency but leaves the cerebral hemispheres to function virtually independently (6). "Handedness" then, has come to be considered - not merely the hand you favor for writing - but rather a possible indication of hemispheric language specialization. It was the French neurosurgeon, Paul... ... Interaction by John Gregory Hibbard http://monroe.lib.in.us/~bpmchi/Hibbard.html 2)handedness http://www.nurseminerva.co.uk/handedne.htm 3)Handedness and Brain Lateralization http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/brain.html 4)Scientific American: Ask the Experts: Biology http://www.sciam.com/missing.cfm 5) Evolution of Lateralization and a Role in Language http://n002bsel.bios.uic.edu/evolution/vertcns/lateralization/index.html 6)Splitting the Human Brain by Paul Pietsch http://www.php.indiana.edu/~pietsch/split-brain.html 7)Ambidexterity: Memory Power and Mindfulness - Ambidexterity Develops http://www.earthlink.net/error/404.html Further Investigation 8)TRY IT! Hemispheric Specialization http://www.cord.edu/faculty/covey/hemisphere.html 9)Left brain / Right Brain http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1892/hemisphr.htm