> Your Koan for the day! :-) Edgar
> > The sound of one-hand clapping: handedness and perisylvian neural correlates > of a communicative gesture in chimpanzees > Adrien Meguerditchian, Molly J. Gardner, Steven J. Schapiro and William D. > Hopkins > Abstract > Whether lateralization of communicative signalling in non-human primates > might constitute prerequisites of hemispheric specialization for language is > unclear. In the present study, we examined (i) hand preference for a > communicative gesture (clapping in 94 captive chimpanzees from two research > facilities) and (ii) the in vivo magnetic resonance imaging brain scans of 40 > of these individuals. The preferred hand for clapping was defined as the one > in the upper position when the two hands came together. Using computer manual > tracing of regions of interest, we measured the neuroanatomical asymmetries > for the homologues of key language areas, including the inferior frontal > gyrus (IFG) and planum temporale (PT). When considering the entire sample, > there was a predominance of right-handedness for clapping and the > distribution of right- and left-handed individuals did not differ between the > two facilities. The direction of hand preference (right- versus left-handed > subjects) for clapping explained a significant portion of variability in > asymmetries of the PT and IFG. The results are consistent with the view that > gestural communication in the common ancestor may have been a precursor of > language and its cerebral substrates in modern humans. > > Source: The Royal Society > http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/279/1735/1959.abstract?etoc > > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
