Introduction


A Fossil Skull		 Welcome to our website about the development of lateralization of the human brain! The cerebrum of the hominid brain is composed of two sides, the right and left hemispheres, which are connected by a structure called the corpus callosum. Since each side of the brain is responsible for different functions, the brain is called lateralized. Although this brain lateralization was present to some extent in our earliest ancestors such as Australopithecus africanus, the brain became increasingly lateralized over the course of hominid evolution as the brain underwent tremendous reorganization.

This site has four main sections on the topic of brain organization in hominids. The first area is a discussion on endocasting, the method that enables researchers to study the brains of hominids from fossil skulls. Section "Skull KNM-ER1470" discusses the relevance of that fossilized skull to the study of reorganization. From there, this site delves into a discussion of why the development of lateralization was so crucial to the development of language. Finally, we conclude with a section outlining the differences between the male and female brains, how these differences arose through evolution and how they are expressed in humans today.

In addition, you can head on over to the links section for some more great websites on brain lateralization, Skull KNM-ER1470, language in the brain, and the differences between male and female brains.

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