ABSTRACT
The idea that diffusely distributed neurotransmitters may have a role in cerebral laterality and alerting mechanisms is entirely plausible. Every component stimulus which can be integrated within short-term memory (STM) will have its own characteristics which may confer lateralization even before STM comes into operation. This makes it difficult to identify laterality effects in STM. Music is a complex form of sensory input, combining many perceptual, motor, cognitive and emotional features, in quite different ways from their combination in spoken language. A number of studies have attempted to distinguish between emotional and phonological attributes of prosody by using sentences with prosody used for purposes other than emotional communication, or conveying emotional messages by spoken language devoid of prosody. The theory of cerebral function developed with the aid of central hypothesis may be able to provide such a model.
