Tool use, communicative gesture and cerebral asymmetries in the modern human brain.

Full Abstract

Determining the brain adaptations that underlie complex tool-use skills is an important component in understanding the physiological bases of human material culture. It is argued here that the ways in which humans skilfully use tools and other manipulable artefacts is possible owing to adaptations that integrate sensory-motor and cognitive processes. Data from brain-injured patients and functional neuroimaging studies suggest that the left cerebral hemisphere, particularly the left parietal cortex, of modern humans is specialized for this purpose. This brain area integrates dynamically representations that are computed in a distributed network of regions, several of which are also left-lateralized. Depending on the nature of the task, these may include conceptual knowledge about objects and their functions, the actor's goals and intentions, and interpretations of task demands. The result is the formation of a praxis representation that is appropriate for the prevailing task context. Recent evidence is presented that this network is organized similarly in the right- and left-handed individuals, and participates in the representation of both familiar tool-use skills and communicative gestures. This shared brain mechanism may reflect common origins of the human specializations for complex tool use and language.

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Author information

Author/s: Frey, Scott H (SH);

Affiliation: Lewis Center for Neuroimaging, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5288, USA. shfrey(-atsign-)uoregon.edu

Grants: NS053962 (Agency:United States NINDS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Review

Journal: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences (Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 363 (issue 1499) : pp 1951-7

Dates: Created 2008/04/30; Completed 2008/08/11;

PMID: 18292060, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Apraxias - physiopathology
Brain - physiology
Communication
Evolution
Functional Laterality - physiology

Functional Laterality - physiology
Gestures
Humans
Language Development
Motor Skills - physiology
Tool Use Behavior - physiology

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