ABSTRACT
Introduction Three very important characteristics of our species, language, right-handedness and tool
use, have been traditionally associated with a single and (allegedly) unique characteristic of the human brain, namely hemispheric specialization. The phenomenon of hemispheric specializa tion (or brain lateralization or asymmetry) refers to the different functional specialization of the left and right side of the brain. For instance, in most (right-handed) individuals of our species the brain mechanisms for language production are located in the left hemisphere.1
