PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LATERALIZED BASAL GANGLIA LESIONS

Abstract

An attempt was made to derive psychological factors which may obtain as a result of left or right brain lesions. Specifically, changes in "higher integrative functions" following unilateral basal ganglia lesions imposed on Parkinsonians through chemosurgery were evaluated. Emphasis was placed upon the nature rather than direction of factorial changes. The relative absence of clearly defined psychological functions associated with either hemisphere in terms of sub-cortical areas was discussed in the light of interhemispheric functional duplications. It was suggested that many psychological behaviors might be subserved by neural processes inherent in either and/or both brain hemispheres. Consequently, the concept of hemispheric "dominance" may need further qualification in relative rather than absolute terms.