>gordonr at cc.UManitoba.CA (Richard Gordon) writes:
>> >Is there any correlation between the asymmetries in individual brains
> >that are apparent in dorsal or ventral views, and cerebral dominance?
>> Yes. There exists a region on the dorsal surface of the temporal lobe
> known as the planum temporale. In most people, it is larger on the
> left side than on the right; most people are also dominant for language
> on the left side. However, this is not a 100% correlation, but merely
> a good indicator of linguistic dominance.
>> Shaun Carstairs
>shaunc at alumni.caltech.edu
Schlaug etal (1995) Science 267:699-701 report that in vivo MRI
morphometry reveals that the left planum temporale is enlarged in
musicians with perfect pitch, compared with nonmusicians or musicians
without perfect pitch. This is consistent with the language dominance
noted above, because perfect pitch may require the ability to make a
verbal association to say, e.g., "this note is a middle C", according
to Albert Galaburda, quoted in the accompanying Research News article
(p 616).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
John E. Anderson, Ph.D. 904-448-6286 (phone)
9439 San Jose Boulevard #226 anderson at cshl.org (email)
Jacksonville, Florida 32257 jander at unf6.unf.edu (email)
