Abstract
THE minor and seemingly random morphological differences between the two hemispheres stand in contrast to the marked and consistent differences in their functions, as reflected, for example, in the specialization of the left hemisphere for speech1. Some evidence that unilateral removals of cerebral tissue have different effects in the two sexes2 suggests that relationships between morphology and function might become apparent if observations on cerebral asymmetry were analysed for each sex separately. Of interest in this respect is a recent investigation by Conel of a series of eight brains from 4-year-old children3; no consistent feature was apparent in the differences between the hemispheres. However, if the sex of the children is taken into consideration, two noteworthy differences emerge. Conel's Table IX shows that in 4 out of the 5 female brains the amount of myelination is greater in the left FAγ-hand area than in the corresponding area on the right, while in the 3 male brains this difference is reversed. In Table X the number of exogenous fibres in layer I of areas FAγ and PB is greater on the right in the 4 female brains for which data are provided, but greater on the left in 2 of the 3 male brains. Neither of these comparisons reaches acceptable levels of statistical significance, but the importance of, and the difficulty in obtaining, these limited data may warrant a conjecture. Could these anatomical differences be related to the finding that side differences in the tactual thresholds on the thumbs of young children are not the same for the two sexes4 ?
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LANSDELL, H. Sex Differences in Hemispheric Asymmetries of the Human Brain. Nature 203, 550 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/203550a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/203550a0
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