Cerebral Hemispheres
Anatomy: The cerebrum, the largest part of the brain is divided into two cerebral hemispheres (left and right). The two cerebral hemispheres are connected by a heavy band of the axons of many neurons called the corpus callosum. Each hemisphere is also divided by deep grooves denoting the four lobes of the brain: frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital.
Function: Each hemisphere, being a collection of the four lobes of the cerebrum, has a myriad of purposes. Interesting to note is that some functions are not localized in a symmetrical manner in the brain. For example, in right-handed individuals, brain centers involved in speech and language production are located primarily in the left hemisphere. The processing of spatial information and certain kinds of reasoning occur mainly in brain centers in the right hemisphere. In left handed individuals, there is much more variation in the locations of functions. For an in-depth explanation of the roles of each lobe incorporated in the cerebral hemispheres, refer to specific pages. |