ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the higher forebrain and, more specifically, with functional differences between the left and right cerebral hemispheres. It provides the simple case of “typical” hemispheric asymmetry. In reality, the “sensory” and “motor” aspects of language are no less inextricable than the functions of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. The relationship between handedness and hemispheric dominance for language turned out to be slightly more complex. Cortex, and vice versa; sensory information from the right half of the body projects to the left somatosensory cortex; and so forth. In split-brain studies, then, the isolated left hemisphere would be presented with images of printed words, such as “PEN” or “GLOVE,” and the patients would be able to read these words. Left-hemisphere patients, by contrast, retain the capacity for object love, for the reason that the requisite “spatial” concepts remain intact.
