Kalman Rubinson (rubinsnk at is2.nyu.edu) wrote:
: Shaun D. Carstairs (shaunc at alumni.caltech.edu) wrote:
: : 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.
: It is merely a correlation, a useful predictor. There is no proof of
: an operational relationship between the asymmetry and dominance.
I'd be interested in citations of any study that used any brain anatomy
measure as a *predictor* of functional asymmetry. To say that brain size
is reliably related to functional capability is to say that Russion
author Ivan Turgenev was the smartest man in history, since his brain
is the largest recorded, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
It's also to say that men are smarter than women, since their brains
are bigger. Not to mention that whales and elephants are even smarter.
Only if you correct for differences in cytoarchitecture and in the
efficiency of different degrees of myelination in affecting axonal
conduction velocity can you get any meaningful prediction of
functional capability from anatomical data. No anatomical
technique short of electron microscopy can give you that level of
detail. And preparation for EM unfortunately removes any ability
to function...
--
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