ABSTRACT
In this chapter I present brief summaries of three research reports. I have chosen these carefully from a potentially enormous range of neuroscience and neuropsychology investigations. Each has already been mentioned, often several times in the main text of this book. Each also represents something of a milestone in the particular area under investigation. The report by Mogilner et al. (1993) shows that the human somatosensory cortex is, under certain circumstances, capable of astonishing feats of rewiring. This cortical region was once thought to be ‘hard-wired’, but studies such as Mogilner’s indicate that it has the capacity for ‘plastic’ changes well into adulthood and maturity. I have included a summary of some of the work of Raichle’s research group (the Petersen et al. paper) because this study was one of the first well-controlled PET investigations to examine the anatomical location of various language skills in the brain. The rather 122more modest study by Delis et al. (1986) is included, in part, to illustrate how it is sometimes possible to test very sophisticated psychological theories using simple apparatus and equipment. The findings from this study have led to increased interest in the ‘processing styles’ theory of lateralisation.
