Cerebral Dominance: The Biological Foundations

This relatively small book, containing 14 chapters by recognized authorities, a good index, and ample references, fulfills the usual purpose of a published symposium—to furnish in one convenient volume an overview of the status of an area of inquiry and a key to its literature. Yet, this book is quite different from the usual. It is characterized by an exploratory, tentative tone and a diversity of material that lead one at first to wonder what precisely is the scope of cerebral dominance. Both characteristics are explained by the fact that the subject is not so much an area of investigation in the ordinary sense as it is a certain general theme, to which the historically grounded title does not do justice, although it is hard to think of another that would. The theme is this—the symmetrical halves of the forebrain, possibly in all vertebrates, are not functionally symmetrical—it makes sense,