Hemispheric specialization is involved in every aspect of sensory,                  cognitive, and motor systems integration. Study of the corpus callosum, the bands of                  tissue uniting the brain's two hemispheres, is central to understanding                  neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and behavior. It also brings the tools of hemispheric                  specialization to a fundamental problem of cognitive neuroscience: modularity and                  intermodular communication.This book summarizes current research on the human corpus                  callosum. It also provides a comprehensive introduction to cognitive neuroscience.                  Rather than viewing the field through the various systems of the mind/brain such as                  perception, action, emotion, memory, language, and problem solving, it takes a case                  studies approach. Focusing on the central problem of simple reaction time, it                  examines the most basic possible sequence of perception-decision-action. The task is                  to press a button with one hand as soon as a patch of light is detected in the                  peripheral visual field. When the patch appears in the visual field opposite the                  responding hand, there must be interhemispheric transfer prior to response. But                  transfer of what--a visual input code? A cognitive decision code? A motor response                  code? Combining animal models, normal human studies, and clinical evidence, the                  authors apply anatomical, physiological, and behavioral perspectives to this                  question. The emerging view is that the corpus callosum consists of many parallel                  interhemispheric channels for communication and control, and that every transfer                  channel is context-dependent and modulated by attention.

The Parallel Brain: The Cognitive Neuroscience of the Corpus Callosum PDF

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