The Asymmetrical Brain - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262083094 ISBN 13: 9780262083096

Publisher: Bradford Books, 2002

Synopsis

The folk belief that the left brain hemisphere is dominant for language and the right for visuospatial functions is incomplete and even misleading. Research shows that asymmetries exist at all levels of the nervous system and apply to emotional as well as to higher cognitive processes. Going beyond the authors' previous book, Brain Asymmetry, this book reflects the most recent thinking on functional asymmetries and their structural correlates in brain anatomy. It emphasizes research using new neuroimaging and neurostimulation techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). It also considers clinical applications of asymmetry research. The book contains sections on animal models and basic functions, neuroimaging and brain stimulation studies, visual laterality, auditory laterality, emotional laterality, neurological disorders, and psychiatric disorders.

About this title

About the Author

Kenneth Hugdahl is Professor of Biological and Medical Psychology at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is coeditor of Brain Asymmetry and The Asymmetrical Brain (2002), both published by the MIT Press.

Review

In The Asymmetrical Brain, leading experts from around the world provide a cutting-edge discussion of one of the most intriguing puzzles in cognitive neuroscience: the manner in which unity of thought and action emerges from a brain with two specialized cortical hemispheres. Coverage is outstanding, both deep and broad, and deals with the many facets of this hemispheric asymmetry: functional hemispheric differences in humans and other species, structural and biological differences that give rise to functional specialization, collaboration between the brain hemispheres, and the implications for neurological and psychiatric disorders. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a scholarly overview of contemporary theory and data on this important topic.

(Joseph Hellige, Professor of Psychology, University of Southern California)

Though billed as a revision of Brain Asymmetry, this is really an entirely new volume. The diversity of the contributions reflects not only the tremendous growth of the field, but the necessity of synthesizing information from such a wide range of research areas. Topics range from asymmetries in avian visual systems to depression, schizophrenia and reading disorders. Several chapters deal with the application of the new methods of cognitive neuroscience to the study of brain asymmetry. These chapters extend the range of the book even further, since they really amount to tutorials in these techniques, and have application beyond the study of brain asymmetry. While the previous edition remains a useful resource, this updated version is sure to be an equally valuable addition.

(Paul Corballis, School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology)

About this edition

• Publisher: Bradford Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0262083094
• ISBN 13: 9780262083096
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 732
• Editor: Hugdahl Kenneth, Davidson Richard J.