I.

Hemispheric structure and fuction

Traditional approaches to characterizing hemispheric specialization have relied on four
mainapproaches: (i) neuropsychological investigation of patients with brain lesions (Damasio
&Damasio, 1989) or iatrogenic splits of the corpus callosum (Gazzaniga, 2000), (ii)psychological
assessment of hemispheric performance differences using tachistoscopic visualor dichotic auditory
stimulus presentation techniques (Hugdahl, 1988; Miran & Miran, 1984;Nagae & Moscovitch, 2002),
(iii) post-mortem investigations of human brains that focus ondifferences in microstructural
properties (e.g. cytoarchitecture, myeloarchitecture) betweenhomotopic regions of the two
hemispheres (Amunts et al., 1999; Amunts, Jäncke, Mohlberg,Steinmetz, & Zilles, 2000; Jenner,
Rosen, & Galaburda, 1999) and (iv) in vivo studies of bothstructural and functional asymmetries
using a variety of techniques, e.g. magnetic resonance(MRI) morphometry, positron emission
tomography (PET), functional MRI (fMRI),electroencephalography (EEG) and
magnetoencephalography (MEG). Investigasi tachistoscopic / dichotic dari sukarelawan sehat
memberikan karakterisasi perilaku proses kognitif yang dilateralisasi, memperlakukan otak sebagai
kotak hitam, sedangkan pendekatan neuropsikologis, anatomis dan fisiologis menggambarkan
asimetri hemisfer dalam hal sifat lokal dari "mesin" neurobiologis, yaitu asimetri regional dalam
keterlibatan fungsional, struktur kortikal, atau aktivitas saraf, masing-masing.

The Hippocratic physicians should have discovered cerebral lateralization of language in thebrain:
they observed that injury to one side of the head was associated with contralesionalhemiparesis.
And that right hemiparesis was often associated with disturbance of speech.two very similar
anatomical structures (the cerebral hemispheres) wouldhave equally similar cognitive functions. The
ventricular theory, expounded by Herophilus ofAlexandria (circa 300 BCE), in which distinct
psychological faculties such as imagination,conceptual thought and memory were represented in
midline structures of the brain (theventricles), also militated against any conception of left–right
functional asymmetry (Marshall,1977). Two millennia later, Thomas Willis (1621–1675) could see no
virtue in the ventriculartheory but continued to assign the seat of imagination to a midline structure:
the corpuscallosum. A century later, the French anatomist Felix Vicq d’Azyr argued that
“thecommissures are intended to establish sympathetic communications between different parts
ofthe brain” (see Joynt, 1974). The corpus callosum connecting the right hemisphere with theleft
must, he argued, “play an important role in the unknown mechanism” of cerebral functions(Joynt,
1974).

In particular, hemispheric specialization maybe more appropriately characterized in terms of

structural and functional connectionalasymmetries between hemispheres rather than in terms of
asymmetries in the local structureor intrinsic function of homotopic regions (Crow, 2005; McIntosh
et al., 1994; Stephan et al.,2003; Stephan, Penny, Marshall, Fink, & Friston, 2005). With this notion
gaining increasingimportance in laterality research, the following sections of this article review the
current stateof efforts to (i) characterize hemispheric asymmetries in structural connectivity, within
andbetween regions and (ii) to infer mechanistic principles of lateralization from
functionalneuroimaging and neurophysiological data using analyses of effective connectivity
The longitudinal fissure divides the two cerebral hemispheres that make up the vertebrate cerebrum
(brain). Therefore, the left and right cerebral hemispheres of the brain can be considered to be
separate. The cerebral cortex, which is the outermost layer of grey matter in each of these
hemispheres, is supported by an inner layer of white matter. In eutherian (placental) mammals, the
corpus callosum, a massive bundle of nerve fibers, connects the hemispheres. Other vertebrates also
have smaller commissures that connect the hemispheres, such as the fornix, anterior commissure,
and posterior commissure. To coordinate regional functions, these commissures transmit
information between the two hemispheres. The three known cerebral hemisphere poles are the
occipital pole.
 II. Function

Hemisphere lateralization

Broad generalizations are often made in popular psychology about certain functions (e.g. logic,
creativity) being lateralized, that is, located in the right or left side of the brain. These claims are
often inaccurate, as most brain functions are actually distributed across both hemispheres. Most
scientific evidence for asymmetry relates to low-level perceptual functions rather than the higher-
level functions popularly discussed (e.g. subconscious processing of grammar, not "logical thinking"
in general).[8][9] In addition to this lateralization of some functions, the low-level representations also
tend to represent the contralateral side of the body.
Perceptual information is processed in both hemispheres, but is laterally partitioned: information
from each side of the body is sent to the opposite hemisphere (visual information is
partitioned somewhat differently, but still lateralized). Similarly, motor control signals sent out to
the body also come from the hemisphere on the opposite side. Thus, hand preference (which
hand someone prefers to use) is also related to hemisphere lateralization.
In some aspects, the hemispheres are asymmetrical; the right side is slightly bigger. There are
higher levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine on the right and higher levels
of dopamine on the left. There is more white matter (longer axons) on the right and more grey
matter (cell bodies) on the left.
Linear reasoning functions of language such as grammar and word production are often
lateralized to the left hemisphere of the brain. In contrast, holistic reasoning functions
of language such as intonation and emphasis are often lateralized to the right hemisphere of the
brain. Other integrative functions such as intuitive or heuristic arithmetic, binaural sound
localization, etc. seem to be more bilaterally controlled

The best example of an established lateralization is that of Broca's and Wernicke's Areas
(language) where both are often found exclusively on the left hemisphere. These areas
frequently correspond to handedness however, meaning the localization of these areas is
regularly found on the hemisphere opposite to the dominant hand. Function lateralization, such
as semantics, intonation, accentuation, and prosody, has since been called into question and
largely been found to have a neuronal basis in both hemispheres.