login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Monkeys And Humans Share Influence Of Gender And Handedness On Brain
August 31, 2007 at 5:28 PM
General Health News
Researchers Kimberley A. Phillips (Hiram College), Chet C. Sherwood (George Washington University) and Alayna L. Lilak (Hiram College) say that both sex and handedness influences the relative size of the corpus callosum. The researchers' contribution appears in PLoS ONE, the online, open-access journal of the Public Library of Science.
In the study, thirteen adult capuchins underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain to determine the size of their corpus callosum, which is the major white matter tract connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres. The monkeys were later given a task to determine hand preference. The authors results led them to conclude that, as in humans, male capuchins have a smaller relative size of the corpus callosum than females, and right-handed individuals have a smaller relative size of the corpus callosum than left-handed individuals.
As the two hemispheres show greater independence of function, the relative size of the corpus callosum is expected to be smaller. This has been documented in humans, and same pattern was found in capuchins. Phillips and her co-authors hypothesize their results are related to hemispheric specialization for complex foraging tasks that require the integration of motor actions and visuospatial information. In the wild, capuchin monkeys utilize both arboreal and terrestrial substrates and are also noted for being very adept at capturing small rapid prey, such as birds, lizards, and squirrels.
|
|
|
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
|
|
 | Quiz on Brain Feeling bad, sad, silly or glad? Find out what is responsible by taking part in our brain quiz. 
|
- News Quick Links
 |
Brain
Complete Medindia Resources
|
| News Categories: |
| » | Prednisolone Benefits Patients With Bell's Palsy |
| » | 'Orphan' Sleep Drug may Fight Cancer |
| » | New Drugs for Fox Tapeworm Infection |
| » | Poor Quality Antimalarial Drugs Pose Threat |
| » | New Drug Shows Promise Against Localized High-risk Prostate Tumors |
| More Drug News | |
|
