Historical development of the concept of hemispheric cerebral dominance

Arthur Benton

pp. 35-57

in: Stuart Spicker, Tristram Engelhardt (eds), Philosophical dimensions of the neuro-medical sciences, Berlin, Springer, 1976

Abstract

The term, "hemispheric cerebral dominance," expresses the concept that the two hemispheres of the human brain are not equivalent in function, and that each hemisphere appears to possess distinctive functional properties which are not shared by the other. The concept is in essence a restricted formulation of the more general concept of cerebral localization which states that different areas of the brain subserve different sensory, motor, or mental functions; in brief, that the human brain is not a functionally equipotential organ.