Left Side/Right Side: A Review of Laterality Research

Interest in the differences between the two sides of the brain continues to grow, and with it the complexity of the literature on the subject.  This authoritative overview draws together the major issues and findings in a form that is readily usable by students; it also provides a ready source of reference for those interested in undertaking research in this area, or working on a particular problem within it and wishing to relate their own topic to the rest of the published literature.

The book surveys the whole of the literature on laterality, with a chapter on each of the following topics: handedness; the split-brain studies; hemispheric asymmetry in normal subjects; language and laterality; biological and comparative aspects of asymmetry; the ontogeny of cerebral specialization; sex differences in asymmetry; asymmetry and reading disability; sinistrality versus dextrality and brain; emotionality; asymmetry and psychopathology; channel capacity, attention and arousal; and the measurement of laterality.  There is also a comprehensive bibliography that lists all significant references in the field.

Students and researchers in cognitive and physiological psychology can now turn to a single volume for guidance on all aspects of this important area of neuropsychology.  Beaton’s review is a masterly summary of the anatomical, physiological, and psychological findings made to date concerning manual and cerebral asymmetry in man.

“A thorough and thoughtful exposition of the main issues in the area.  The presentation of the material is lucid; however, technical and methodological issues are not glossed over.” –Ruben Gur, director of neuropsychology, Brain Behavior Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania