Hugdahl K., Westerhausen R. (eds.) The Two Halves of the Brain: Information Processing in the Cerebral Hemispheres

Boston: The MIT Press, 2010. — 717 p.Hemispheric asymmetry is one of the basic aspects of perception and cognitive processing. The different functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain have been studied with renewed interest in recent years, as scholars explore applications to new areas, new measuring techniques, and new theoretical approaches. This volume provides a comprehensive view of the latest research in brain asymmetry, offering not only recent empirical and clinical findings but also a coherent theoretical approach to the subject. In chapters that report on the field at levels from the molecular to the clinical, leading researchers address such topics as the evolution and genetics of brain asymmetry; animal models; findings from structural and functional neuroimaging techniques and research; sex differences and hormonal effects; sleep asymmetry; cognitive asymmetry in visual and auditory perception; and auditory laterality and speech perception, memory, and asymmetry in the context of developmental, neurological, and psychiatric disorders. Contributors : Katrin Amunts, Ulrike Bayer, Alfredo Brancucci, Vince D. Calhoun, Maria Casagrande, Marco Catani, Michael C. Corballis, Patricia E. Cowell, Timothy J. Crow, Tom Eichele, Stephanie Forkel, Patrick J. Gannon, Isabelle George, Onur Güntürkün, Heikki Hämäläinen, Markus Hausmann, Joseph B. Hellige, Kenneth Hugdahl, Masud Husain, Grégoria Kalpouzos, Bruno Laeng, Martina Manns, Chikashi Michimata, Deborah W. Moncrieff, Lars Nyberg, Godfrey Pearlson, Stefan Pollmann, Victoria Singh-Curry, Iris E. C. Sommer, Tao Sun, Nathan Swanson, Fiia Takio, Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, René WesterhausenIntroduction and OverviewGenetic and Evolutionary Perspectives on Hemispheric AsymmetryDifferential Gene Transcription in the Left and Right Cerebral Cortex
Evolutionary Depth of Human Brain Language Areas
Handedness and Cerebral AsymmetryHemispheric Asymmetry in Nonmammalian SpeciesHemispheric Asymmetry of Songbirds
The Embryonic Development of Visual Asymmetry in the PigeonNeuroimaging and Hemispheric AsymmetryStructural Indices of Asymmetry
Asymmetry of White Matter Pathways
Electroencephalographic and Magnetoencephalographic Indices of Hemispheric AsymmetryHormones, Sex Differences, and Sleep AsymmetrySex Hormonal Effects on Hemispheric Asymmetry and Interhemispheric Interaction
Sex Differences in Handedness, Brain Asymmetry, and Language Lateralization
Laterality and SleepAsymmetry of PerceptionAuditory Laterality
Processing Asymmetries in the Visual System
Integrating Auditory and Visual AsymmetryAsymmetry of CognitionA Unified Structural-Attentional Framework for Dichotic Listening
Cognitive Control of Auditory Laterality
Hemispheric Asymmetry of MemoryAsymmetry in Neurological and Pediatric DisordersVisuospatial Function and the Neglect Syndrome
Hemispheric Asymmetry in Pediatric Developmental DisordersAsymmetry in Schizophrenia and PsychosisLateral Differences in the Default Mode Network in Schizophrenia
The Origins of Psychosis and the Evolution of Language