MadSci Network: Neuroscience
Query:

Re: Would having a larger corpus callosum enlarge your brainpower?

Date: Thu Dec 20 14:08:14 2001
Posted By: john young, Faculty, Anatomy, Howard University
Area of science: Neuroscience
ID: 1008646251.Ns
Message:

Hi!  Your question about brain differences between right and left handed 
people is very interesting.  Apparently, about 80% of humans prefer using 
the right hand.  A number of attempts have been made to examine whether the 
left motor cortex (which controls the right hand) is anatomically larger 
than the right cortex.  Most studies have been inconclusive.  However, a 
recent study examining the FUNCTION of the cortex, rather than just the 
anatomy, has confirmed that the motor cortex contralateral to the dominant 
hand does indeed show more functional activity than the other side (see P 
Dassonville, et al., "Functional activation in motor cortex reflects the 
direction and degree of handedness" in the journal Proceedings of the 
National Academy of Sciences vol. 95, p. 11499, 1998).  Another study has 
shown that a portion of the corpus callosum might be larger in right handed 
persons, but the overall dimensions of the entire corpus callosum do not 
show these changes (KD Hopper, "The relationship of age,gender, handedness, 
and sidedness to the size of the corpus callosum" Acad. Radiol. vol. 1, p. 
243, 1994--you can access abstracts of these papers by going to 
www.pubmed.gov).  It seems likely that training yourself to use both hands 
may eventually result in long lasting functional changes in the motor 
cortex (called plasticity), which would probably be a good thing and would 
improve your motor abilities.  It is less likely that this would result in 
a change in overall IQ.


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