This book arrays recent research on the neural and behavioral lateralization of the brain relying heavily on animal modes. The authors employ the comparative method to enhance our understanding of behavior, specifically through hand use and "handedness" by drawing comparisons with studies involving primates. Topics discussed include Patterns of Lateralized Behavior in Prosimians; Behavioral Lateralization in Language-Trained Chimpanzees; Patterns of Handedness: Comparative Study of Nursery School Children and Captive Gorillas; and Rotational Behavior in Children and Adults. It is the first book of its kind devoted entirely to the question of behavioral asymmetries in all primates and thus presents a milestone as it recognizes the accumulating evidence of asymmetry and lateralized behavior in the non-human nervous system.

Hemispheric specialization, and lateralized sensory, cognitive or motor function of the left and right halves of the brain, commonly manifests in humans as right-handedness and left hemisphere specialization of language functions. Historically, this has been considered a hallmark of, and unique to, human evolution. Some theories propose that human right-handedness evolved in the context of language and speech while others that it was a product of the increasing motor demands associated with feeding or tool-use. In the past 20-25 years, there has been a plethora of research in animals on the topic of whether population-level asymmetries in behavioral processes or neuro-anatomical structures exist in animals, notably primates and people have begun to question the historical assumptions that hemispheric specialization is unique to humans. This book brings together various summary chapters on the expression of behavioral and neuro-anatomical asymmetries in primates. Several chapters summarize entire families of primates while others focus on genetic and non-genetic models of handedness in humans and how they can be tested in non-human primates. In addition, it makes explicit links between various theoretical models of the development of handedness in humans with the observed patterns of results in non-human primates. A second emphasis is on comparative studies of handedness in primates. There is now enough data in the literature across different species to present an evolutionary tree for the emergence of handedness (and perhaps other aspects of hemispheric specialization, such as neuro-anatomical asymmetries) and its relation to specific morphological and ecological adaptations in various primate species. * The first treatment of this important topic since 1998* Examines the tenet that lateralization and handedness is a uniquely human character through evidence from higer and lower primates and with reference to other vertebrates.* Advances our understanding of the occurrence, evolution and significance of lateralization and handedness effects.

This book explores afresh the long-standing interest, and emphasis on, the `special' capacities of primates. Some of the recent discoveries of the higher cognitive abilities of other mammals and also birds challenge the concept that primates are special and even the view that the cognitive ability of apes is more advanced than that of nonprimate mammals and birds. It is therefore timely to ask whether primates are, in fact, special and to do so from a broad range of perspectives. Divided into five sections this book deals with topics about higher cognition and how it is manifested in different species, and also considers aspects of brain structure that might be associated with complex behavior.

Cerebral Lateralization in Nonhuman Species explores brain asymmetries in animals and the extent to which such asymmetries relate, in an evolutionary and clinical sense, to the pervasive asymmetries that characterize the human brain. Topics covered include cerebral lateralization in birds, rats, and nonhuman primates; the inheritance of direction and degree of asymmetry in the brain; the morphology of rat forebrain; and variation in the pattern of behavioral and brain asymmetries due to sex differences. Comprised of 11 chapters, this book opens with a historical overview of research into the cerebral lateralization of structures and functions in nonhuman species. The discussion then turns to lateralization of vocal control in songbirds and lateralization of several behaviors in domestic chicks. The inheritance of direction and degree of asymmetry is also considered, along with the morphology of rat forebrains. The following chapters focus on asymmetries in anatomy and pathology in the rodent brain; the link between brain lateralization and behavioral functions; and how early experiences can induce laterality. The final chapter analyzes the implications of brain asymmetries for evolution, genetics, and clinical syndromes. This monograph will be a useful resource for students, neuroscientists, clinicians, and other practitioners in fields ranging from psychobiology and psychology to anatomical sciences, neurobiology, neurochemistry, and genetics.

Research on clinical populations and studies of normal individuals support the conclusion that there are functional differences between the cerebral hemispheres. This book captures some of the major developments in the field of cerebral laterality research of the last five years. These include lateralization in non-human primates, computational models of hemispheric processing, hemispheric transfer and interaction, perceptual asymmetries, techniques to measure dynamic changes in hemispheric processing of information, and new conceptualizations of the relation between handedness and cerebral laterality. The topics discussed exhibit an interconnectedness such that the approaches and techniques used in one area of cerebral laterality research have implications for research in other disciplines. They also reflect changes in the conceptualization of general theoretical issues regarding cerebral laterality research.

This book demonstrates how the primate hand combines both primitive and novel morphology, both general function with specialization, and both a remarkable degree of diversity within some clades and yet general similarity across many others. Across the chapters, different authors have addressed a variety of specific questions and provided their perspectives, but all explore the main themes described above to provide an overarching “primitive primate hand” thread to the book. Each chapter provides an in-depth review and critical account of the available literature, a balanced interpretation of the evidence from a variety of perspectives, and prospects for future research questions. In order to make this a useful resource for researchers at all levels, the basic structure of each chapter is the same, so that information can be easily consulted from chapter to chapter. An extensive reference list is provided at the end of each chapter so the reader has additional resources to address more specific questions or to find specific data.