Hemispheric lateralization in reasoning. 2015

Benjamin O Turner, and Nicole Marinsek, and Emily Ryhal, and Michael B Miller
Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California.

A growing body of evidence suggests that reasoning in humans relies on a number of related processes whose neural loci are largely lateralized to one hemisphere or the other. A recent review of this evidence concluded that the patterns of lateralization observed are organized according to two complementary tendencies. The left hemisphere attempts to reduce uncertainty by drawing inferences or creating explanations, even at the cost of ignoring conflicting evidence or generating implausible explanations. Conversely, the right hemisphere aims to reduce conflict by rejecting or refining explanations that are no longer tenable in the face of new evidence. In healthy adults, the hemispheres work together to achieve a balance between certainty and consistency, and a wealth of neuropsychological research supports the notion that upsetting this balance results in various failures in reasoning, including delusions. However, support for this model from the neuroimaging literature is mixed. Here, we examine the evidence for this framework from multiple research domains, including an activation likelihood estimation analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of reasoning. Our results suggest a need to either revise this model as it applies to healthy adults or to develop better tools for assessing lateralization in these individuals.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007839 Functional Laterality Behavioral manifestations of cerebral dominance in which there is preferential use and superior functioning of either the left or the right side, as in the preferred use of the right hand or right foot. Ambidexterity,Behavioral Laterality,Handedness,Laterality of Motor Control,Mirror Writing,Laterality, Behavioral,Laterality, Functional,Mirror Writings,Motor Control Laterality,Writing, Mirror,Writings, Mirror
D001931 Brain Mapping Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures. Brain Electrical Activity Mapping,Functional Cerebral Localization,Topographic Brain Mapping,Brain Mapping, Topographic,Functional Cerebral Localizations,Mapping, Brain,Mapping, Topographic Brain
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012563 Schizophrenia, Paranoid A chronic form of schizophrenia characterized primarily by the presence of persecutory or grandiose delusions, often associated with hallucination. Delusional Disorder,Paranoid Schizophrenia,Delusional Disorders,Disorder, Delusional,Disorders, Delusional,Paranoid Schizophrenias,Schizophrenias, Paranoid
D016013 Likelihood Functions Functions constructed from a statistical model and a set of observed data which give the probability of that data for various values of the unknown model parameters. Those parameter values that maximize the probability are the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters. Likelihood Ratio Test,Maximum Likelihood Estimates,Estimate, Maximum Likelihood,Estimates, Maximum Likelihood,Function, Likelihood,Functions, Likelihood,Likelihood Function,Maximum Likelihood Estimate,Test, Likelihood Ratio
D050812 Split-Brain Procedure Complete severing of the CORPUS CALLOSUM. In humans it is usually performed to treat medically intractable, multifocal EPILEPSY. EXPERIMENTAL ANIMAL MODELS of split brain preparations are used in research. Split-Brain,Procedures, Split-Brain,Split Brain,Split Brain Procedure,Split-Brain Procedures
D054022 Cerebrum Derived from TELENCEPHALON, cerebrum is composed of a right and a left hemisphere. Each contains an outer cerebral cortex and a subcortical basal ganglia. The cerebrum includes all parts within the skull except the MEDULLA OBLONGATA, the PONS, and the CEREBELLUM. Cerebral functions include sensorimotor, emotional, and intellectual activities. Cerebra,Cerebral Hemispheres,Left Cerebral Hemisphere,Right Cerebral Hemisphere,Cerebral Hemisphere,Cerebral Hemisphere, Left,Cerebral Hemisphere, Right

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