IUBio

Left/right brain integration

Stephen Black sblack at UBISHOPS.CA
Fri Dec 6 09:22:35 EST 1996


> In article <57qo7i$sol at news.stlnet.com>, Ev  <*evan at stlnet.com*> wrote:

> :Ian Walker wrote:
> :> fascinating study I read recently which found that the corpus callosum
> :> (the main bundle of connections between the two hemispheres) was thicker
> :> and better-connected in musicians than in controls, but only if they had
> :> started learning their instrument before the age of 7.  Interesting, eh?

> :maybe kids that pursue music that early are because they have a bigger 
> :corpus callosum,women have bigger corpus callosums,so does that mean 
> :they are better musicians?

It might be worth mentioning that us sinister types also have a larger 
corpus callosum (Witelson, 1985). Does that mean I'm a better musician as 
well?  Wait 'till I tell my old long-suffering piano teacher.

Actually, there's an obvious explanation for the larger size in the case 
of lefties. It may develop as a result of the greater traffic between the 
hemispheres, as motor control of the left hand is in the right hemisphere 
while the speech centre is (most often) in the left. In right-handers, 
both motor control and speech centre are in the same hemisphere.

I recall that music is a right-hemisphere function (whatever that means) 
but it's unclear to me why that would predict greater cross-hemisphere 
traffic as in the case of left-handers. Perhaps the Neuropsychologia study 
which started all of this has the answer. I guess I'd better drop a note 
to my friendly interlibrary loan service.

Reference

Witelson, S. (1985). The brain connction: the corpus callosum is larger
  in left-handers. Science, 229, 665-668.


-Stephen
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Black, Ph.D.                      tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology                  fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University                    e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca
Lennoxville, Quebec               
J1M 1A9                                                                 
Canada                                        
------------------------------------------------------------------------




More information about the Neur-sci mailing list

Send comments to us at biosci-help [At] net.bio.net