#782 Gillian Forrester: The Evolution of Handedness, Cerebral Lateralization, and Language
RECORDED ON JANUARY 26th 2022.
Dr. Gillian Forrester is a Professor of Comparative Cognition in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex. She is the director of the Comparative Cognition Group investigating the behaviors and brain organization of children, gorillas and chimpanzees focusing on how cognitive abilities evolve and develop over time and across species.
In this episode, we talk about the evolution of handedness and how it relates to language and other cognitive abilities. We first define handedness, and talk about how it evolved. We discuss if human hands are more dexterous, and how handedness works in Great apes. We discuss if it is innate, and which environmental factors play a role in its development. We then get into the neuroscience of handedness and how it relates to cerebral lateralization. We talk about how cerebral lateralization might connect to (higher) cognitive functions, and we discuss if there is a relationship between handedness and cognitive ability. We also discuss the relationship between handedness (and motor function more generally) and language, and the biological precursors of language. Finally, Dr. Forrester answers a question from a patron.
Time Links:
Intro
What is handedness, and how did it evolve?
Are human hands more dexterous?
Handedness in Great apes
Is handedness innate?
Environmental factors
Do we also have a dominant foot?
The neuroscience of handedness and cerebral lateralization
Is cerebral lateralization connected to specific cognitive functions?
Does cerebral lateralization allow for the emergence of higher cognitive functions?
Handedness and cognitive ability
The left-side cradling bias
The relationship between motor function and language
The biological precursors of language
Question from a patron
Follow Dr. Forrester’s work!
Follow Dr. Forrester’s work:
Faculty page: http://bit.ly/3x2tuDP
Website: http://bit.ly/3D4H0e0
Me, Human: http://bit.ly/3JzrGtd
ResearchGate profile: http://bit.ly/3eweveX
Twitter handle: @ForresterGilly