Laterality Flashcards
How long ago did Homo erectus exist? How does it differ from Homo habilus?
Between 2 million and 800 000 years. It was taller and less robust than homo habilus
What was the difference in relative brain size between homo habilus and homo erectus?
Homo erectus had a much larger relative brain size, as the capability of the brain was growing in order to carry out more complex tasks
Give 2 reasons why there were larger groups or communities of homo erectus when compared to its predecessors?
Co-operative hunting and infant care
What are the characteristics of homo sapiens?
800 000 years ago - present, taller and less robust, final and dramatic increase in brain size
What evidence has been found of Neanderthal dextrality?
Asymmetrical dental wear - neanderthals would hold meat between their left hand and teeth, and cut with their right hand - sometimes leaving marks on their teeth, all in the same direction
Which two characteristics have been around since Australopithecus Africanus?
Bipedalism e.g. walking upright, and frontal and occipital petalia
At what stage of hominid evolution is the enlarged broca’s area identified?
Homo habilus
At what stage of hominid evolution did dextrality emerge?
Homo habilus
At what stage of hominid evolution did complex social structures emerge?
Homo erectus
What did Corballis propose about gesture?
- That gesture preceded speaking in homo habilus due to a high larynx
- that primate vocalisations have a limited range and are not volitional
- humans use gesture
What is the significance of mirror neurons?
They could be the key to understanding intention - Area F5 (same area as Broca’s area in humans) activated when monkey reaches for a peanut and when other monkeys or human reaches for a peanut
What are some characteristics of our earliest bipedal ancestors in relation to mirror neurons?
- bilateral mirror neuron centres
- LH specialisation for vocalisation - not speech, just making simple noises
- little or no hand preference
What happens to mirror neurons post homo habilus?
- vocalisations become attached to gestures
- mirror neurons become specialised in LH
- emergence of broca’s area
- right hand becomes dominant for tool use and gestures
What is the McGurk effect?
When the lip movements of a person are inconsistent with a sound, humans mishear it
How do the sensory/primary areas of our brain develop?
They seem to myelinate earlier, and tend not to be lateralised e.g. there’s no difference in basic vision between LH and RH side
How do the association areas of our brain develop?
They myelinate later and tend to become lateralised - suggests that lateralisation might develop fairly late
How does the corpus callossum develop over time?
A very large increase from infancy to adulthood in relative size. Due to its importance in lateralisation, this supports the argument that lateralisation might develop fairly late
What did Bates discover about the effect of unilateral lesions?
For children, there were no asymmetrical effects of lesions depending on RHD or LHD
For adults, LHD associated with a much greater rate of errors when compared to RHD
This suggests that children’s brain are different to adult’s brains in terms of lateralisation
What did Lenneberg propose on the subject of development of laterality?
That the brain is not lateralised at birth and lateralisation develops with age
What was discovered about the sizes of left and right temporal planum in adults and infants?
The temporal planum was found to be larger on the left than the right for both infants and adults, suggesting that laterality could be innate