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The Evolution of Human Cerebral Asymmetry

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Intelligence and Evolutionary Biology

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIG,volume 17))

Abstract

Although considerably less extensive and obvious than functional cerebral asymmetries in the human brain (see Bradshaw & Nettleton, 1983), recent research has demonstrated beyond question that the two cerebral hemispheres are laterally specialized in species as widely separated as passerine birds, rodents, and monkeys (see Glick, 1985, for reviews). The presence of cerebral asymmetry in such diverse groups can be explained by a parallel evolution in response to common selective pressures for an efficient use of neural space, in which different neural programs that serve different functions are organized in opposite sides of the brain. A neural organization that is optimally designed to serve one set of functions cannot normally be optimally designed to serve a different set of functions, and lateral differentiation allows the development of two different operational programs that serve different and equally important processes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Committee on Biopsychology, University of Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Jerre Levy

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  1. Jerre Levy
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, 90024, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Harry J. Jerison  & Irene Jerison  & 

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© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Levy, J. (1988). The Evolution of Human Cerebral Asymmetry. In: Jerison, H.J., Jerison, I. (eds) Intelligence and Evolutionary Biology. NATO ASI Series, vol 17. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70877-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70877-0_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70879-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70877-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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