As especializações do hemisfério direito (HD) no processamento da função lingüística e da comunicação vêm ganhando destaque na literatura internacional, sendo ainda pouco conhecidas no contexto nacional. Conseqüentemente, há, ainda, limitados procedimentos de avaliação neuropsicológica dos distúrbios comunicativos apresentados em quadros de lesões desse hemisfério. Frente a essa demanda de ferramentas diagnósticas, a presente pesquisa teve por objetivo promover estudos teóricos e empíricos com a Bateria Montréal de Avaliação da Comunicação – Bateria MAC, versão Brasileira do instrumento canadense Protocole Montreal d’Évaluation de la Communication – Protocole MEC, analisando-se o processamento de habilidades comunicativas de ativação do HD em adultos não lesados e em indivíduos com lesão vascular nesse lado do cérebro. Essa tese está composta por quatro estudos teóricos, com os objetivos de verificar quais os indícios do papel do HD no processamento comunicativo em estudos de neuroimagem com indivíduos neurologicamente preservados (Estudo teórico 1), apresentar uma meta-análise de estudos com indivíduos com lesão vascular no HD, investigando-se o desempenho desta população no processamento comunicativo (Estudo teórico 2), apresentar uma revisão teórica sobre a avaliação neuropsicológica da linguagem após lesão cerebral, com ênfase nas avaliações funcionais (Estudo teórico 3) e promover uma caracterização da Síndrome do HD (Estudo teórico 4). Além disso, a tese também está formada por três estudos empíricos, que visam a verificar o efeito de variáveis sócio-demográficas no desempenho comunicativo avaliado pela Bateria MAC (Estudo empírico 1), a apresentar normas de desempenho quanto à idade e à escolaridade, assim como dados da fidedignidade desse instrumento (Estudo empírico 2) e a averiguar o desempenho de lesados de HD nas tarefas comunicativas da Bateria MAC, comparando-os com um grupo controle (Estudo empírico 3). Como resultados, os estudos teóricos 1 e 2 mostraram uma importante contribuição do HD no processamento comunicativo tanto em indivíduos neurologicamente saudáveis quanto em indivíduos com lesões cerebrais direitas. O estudo teórico 3 evidenciou um crescente interesse pelo exame dos aspectos funcionais. O quarto estudo caracterizou os principais sintomas cognitivos (anosognosia, heminegligência sensorial, prosopagnosia, alterações de memória visuo-espacial e de trabalho, dispraxia construtiva e disfunção executiva), comunicativos (alterações nos componentes discursivo, pragmático-inferencial, léxico-semântico e prosódico) e comportamentais (dificuldades de compreensão e produção de emoções faciais e vocais e alterações neuropsiquiátricas) da Síndrome do HD. No estudo empírico 1, foram verificados efeitos das variáveis idade e escolaridade em tarefas dos quatro processamento avaliados pela Bateria MAC, sendo o efeito da educação mais significativo. O estudo empírico 2 apresentou normas quanto à idade e à escolaridade e demonstrou uma adequada fidedignidade do instrumento investigado. Por fim, no estudo 3 observou-se efeito da lesão de HD em tarefas discursivas, pragmáticas, léxico-semânticas e prosódicas, além de uma menor homogeneidade do grupo clínico quando comparado ao controle. / Right hemisphere (RH) specializations related to language and communication functions have been focused in international literature, although they are nationally less known. Consequently, there still are reduced neuropsychological assessment procedures to evaluate communication disorders present in right brain damage. Taking this great demand of diagnosis tools into account, this research aimed to present theoretical and empirical studies with the Brazilian version of Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery – Protocole MEC, analyzing the process of communicative abilities related to RH’s activation in non-damaged adults and in individuals with a stroke in this hemisphere. This thesis is formed by four theoretical studies, with the aims to verify the literature index to right hemisphere role on communicative processing in neuroimaging studies with neurologically normal participants (Theoretical study 1), to present a meta-analysis of studies with right brain damaged participants, verifying their communicative processing (Theoretical study 2), to present a theoretical review about the language neuropsychological assessment after brain damage, emphasizing the functional evaluation (Theoretical study 3) and to promote a description of the RH Syndrome (Theoretical study 4). Moreover, the thesis also includes three empirical investigations, witch aim to verify demographic factors’ effects on communication performance evaluated by Protocole MEC (Empirical study 1), to present norms related to age and education, as well as reliability data (Empirical study 2) and to investigate right brain damaged communication performance in Protocole MEC’s tasks, comparing this clinical group with a control one (Empirical study 3). As results, theoretical studies 1 and 2 showed an important contribution of the right hemisphere to communication process in healthy and right brain damaged subjects. In the theoretical study 3, a growing interest in the evaluation of language functional components was observed. The fourth study characterized the main RH Syndrome’s cognitive symptoms (anosognosia, hemineglect, prosopagnosia, working and visual-spatial memory disorders, constructional dyspraxia and executive dysfunction), communication symptoms (discoursive, pragmatic, lexical-semantic 12 and prosodic deficits) and behavioral symptoms (difficulties in comprehension and production of facial and vocal expression, as well as neuropsychiatric disorders). In the empirical study 1, age and schooling effects were noted in tasks that evaluate the four communication components covered by the Protocole MEC. The education effect was more significant than the age one. The empirical study 2 presented norms stratified by age and education and it showed that Protocole MEC is a reliable instrument. In the study 3, a right brain damage effect was observed in discursive, pragmatic, lexical-semantic and prosodic tasks, followed by a less homogeneous performance of the clinical group compared to the control one.

As especializações do hemisfério direito (HD) no processamento da função lingüística e da comunicação vêm ganhando destaque na literatura internacional, sendo ainda pouco conhecidas no contexto nacional. Conseqüentemente, há, ainda, limitados procedimentos de avaliação neuropsicológica dos distúrbios comunicativos apresentados em quadros de lesões desse hemisfério. Frente a essa demanda de ferramentas diagnósticas, a presente pesquisa teve por objetivo promover estudos teóricos e empíricos com a Bateria Montréal de Avaliação da Comunicação – Bateria MAC, versão Brasileira do instrumento canadense Protocole Montreal d’Évaluation de la Communication – Protocole MEC, analisando-se o processamento de habilidades comunicativas de ativação do HD em adultos não lesados e em indivíduos com lesão vascular nesse lado do cérebro. Essa tese está composta por quatro estudos teóricos, com os objetivos de verificar quais os indícios do papel do HD no processamento comunicativo em estudos de neuroimagem com indivíduos neurologicamente preservados (Estudo teórico 1), apresentar uma meta-análise de estudos com indivíduos com lesão vascular no HD, investigando-se o desempenho desta população no processamento comunicativo (Estudo teórico 2), apresentar uma revisão teórica sobre a avaliação neuropsicológica da linguagem após lesão cerebral, com ênfase nas avaliações funcionais (Estudo teórico 3) e promover uma caracterização da Síndrome do HD (Estudo teórico 4). Além disso, a tese também está formada por três estudos empíricos, que visam a verificar o efeito de variáveis sócio-demográficas no desempenho comunicativo avaliado pela Bateria MAC (Estudo empírico 1), a apresentar normas de desempenho quanto à idade e à escolaridade, assim como dados da fidedignidade desse instrumento (Estudo empírico 2) e a averiguar o desempenho de lesados de HD nas tarefas comunicativas da Bateria MAC, comparando-os com um grupo controle (Estudo empírico 3). Como resultados, os estudos teóricos 1 e 2 mostraram uma importante contribuição do HD no processamento comunicativo tanto em indivíduos neurologicamente saudáveis quanto em indivíduos com lesões cerebrais direitas. O estudo teórico 3 evidenciou um crescente interesse pelo exame dos aspectos funcionais. O quarto estudo caracterizou os principais sintomas cognitivos (anosognosia, heminegligência sensorial, prosopagnosia, alterações de memória visuo-espacial e de trabalho, dispraxia construtiva e disfunção executiva), comunicativos (alterações nos componentes discursivo, pragmático-inferencial, léxico-semântico e prosódico) e comportamentais (dificuldades de compreensão e produção de emoções faciais e vocais e alterações neuropsiquiátricas) da Síndrome do HD. No estudo empírico 1, foram verificados efeitos das variáveis idade e escolaridade em tarefas dos quatro processamento avaliados pela Bateria MAC, sendo o efeito da educação mais significativo. O estudo empírico 2 apresentou normas quanto à idade e à escolaridade e demonstrou uma adequada fidedignidade do instrumento investigado. Por fim, no estudo 3 observou-se efeito da lesão de HD em tarefas discursivas, pragmáticas, léxico-semânticas e prosódicas, além de uma menor homogeneidade do grupo clínico quando comparado ao controle. / Right hemisphere (RH) specializations related to language and communication functions have been focused in international literature, although they are nationally less known. Consequently, there still are reduced neuropsychological assessment procedures to evaluate communication disorders present in right brain damage. Taking this great demand of diagnosis tools into account, this research aimed to present theoretical and empirical studies with the Brazilian version of Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery – Protocole MEC, analyzing the process of communicative abilities related to RH’s activation in non-damaged adults and in individuals with a stroke in this hemisphere. This thesis is formed by four theoretical studies, with the aims to verify the literature index to right hemisphere role on communicative processing in neuroimaging studies with neurologically normal participants (Theoretical study 1), to present a meta-analysis of studies with right brain damaged participants, verifying their communicative processing (Theoretical study 2), to present a theoretical review about the language neuropsychological assessment after brain damage, emphasizing the functional evaluation (Theoretical study 3) and to promote a description of the RH Syndrome (Theoretical study 4). Moreover, the thesis also includes three empirical investigations, witch aim to verify demographic factors’ effects on communication performance evaluated by Protocole MEC (Empirical study 1), to present norms related to age and education, as well as reliability data (Empirical study 2) and to investigate right brain damaged communication performance in Protocole MEC’s tasks, comparing this clinical group with a control one (Empirical study 3). As results, theoretical studies 1 and 2 showed an important contribution of the right hemisphere to communication process in healthy and right brain damaged subjects. In the theoretical study 3, a growing interest in the evaluation of language functional components was observed. The fourth study characterized the main RH Syndrome’s cognitive symptoms (anosognosia, hemineglect, prosopagnosia, working and visual-spatial memory disorders, constructional dyspraxia and executive dysfunction), communication symptoms (discoursive, pragmatic, lexical-semantic 12 and prosodic deficits) and behavioral symptoms (difficulties in comprehension and production of facial and vocal expression, as well as neuropsychiatric disorders). In the empirical study 1, age and schooling effects were noted in tasks that evaluate the four communication components covered by the Protocole MEC. The education effect was more significant than the age one. The empirical study 2 presented norms stratified by age and education and it showed that Protocole MEC is a reliable instrument. In the study 3, a right brain damage effect was observed in discursive, pragmatic, lexical-semantic and prosodic tasks, followed by a less homogeneous performance of the clinical group compared to the control one.

As especializações do hemisfério direito (HD) no processamento da função lingüística e da comunicação vêm ganhando destaque na literatura internacional, sendo ainda pouco conhecidas no contexto nacional. Conseqüentemente, há, ainda, limitados procedimentos de avaliação neuropsicológica dos distúrbios comunicativos apresentados em quadros de lesões desse hemisfério. Frente a essa demanda de ferramentas diagnósticas, a presente pesquisa teve por objetivo promover estudos teóricos e empíricos com a Bateria Montréal de Avaliação da Comunicação – Bateria MAC, versão Brasileira do instrumento canadense Protocole Montreal d’Évaluation de la Communication – Protocole MEC, analisando-se o processamento de habilidades comunicativas de ativação do HD em adultos não lesados e em indivíduos com lesão vascular nesse lado do cérebro. Essa tese está composta por quatro estudos teóricos, com os objetivos de verificar quais os indícios do papel do HD no processamento comunicativo em estudos de neuroimagem com indivíduos neurologicamente preservados (Estudo teórico 1), apresentar uma meta-análise de estudos com indivíduos com lesão vascular no HD, investigando-se o desempenho desta população no processamento comunicativo (Estudo teórico 2), apresentar uma revisão teórica sobre a avaliação neuropsicológica da linguagem após lesão cerebral, com ênfase nas avaliações funcionais (Estudo teórico 3) e promover uma caracterização da Síndrome do HD (Estudo teórico 4). Além disso, a tese também está formada por três estudos empíricos, que visam a verificar o efeito de variáveis sócio-demográficas no desempenho comunicativo avaliado pela Bateria MAC (Estudo empírico 1), a apresentar normas de desempenho quanto à idade e à escolaridade, assim como dados da fidedignidade desse instrumento (Estudo empírico 2) e a averiguar o desempenho de lesados de HD nas tarefas comunicativas da Bateria MAC, comparando-os com um grupo controle (Estudo empírico 3). Como resultados, os estudos teóricos 1 e 2 mostraram uma importante contribuição do HD no processamento comunicativo tanto em indivíduos neurologicamente saudáveis quanto em indivíduos com lesões cerebrais direitas. O estudo teórico 3 evidenciou um crescente interesse pelo exame dos aspectos funcionais. O quarto estudo caracterizou os principais sintomas cognitivos (anosognosia, heminegligência sensorial, prosopagnosia, alterações de memória visuo-espacial e de trabalho, dispraxia construtiva e disfunção executiva), comunicativos (alterações nos componentes discursivo, pragmático-inferencial, léxico-semântico e prosódico) e comportamentais (dificuldades de compreensão e produção de emoções faciais e vocais e alterações neuropsiquiátricas) da Síndrome do HD. No estudo empírico 1, foram verificados efeitos das variáveis idade e escolaridade em tarefas dos quatro processamento avaliados pela Bateria MAC, sendo o efeito da educação mais significativo. O estudo empírico 2 apresentou normas quanto à idade e à escolaridade e demonstrou uma adequada fidedignidade do instrumento investigado. Por fim, no estudo 3 observou-se efeito da lesão de HD em tarefas discursivas, pragmáticas, léxico-semânticas e prosódicas, além de uma menor homogeneidade do grupo clínico quando comparado ao controle. / Right hemisphere (RH) specializations related to language and communication functions have been focused in international literature, although they are nationally less known. Consequently, there still are reduced neuropsychological assessment procedures to evaluate communication disorders present in right brain damage. Taking this great demand of diagnosis tools into account, this research aimed to present theoretical and empirical studies with the Brazilian version of Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery – Protocole MEC, analyzing the process of communicative abilities related to RH’s activation in non-damaged adults and in individuals with a stroke in this hemisphere. This thesis is formed by four theoretical studies, with the aims to verify the literature index to right hemisphere role on communicative processing in neuroimaging studies with neurologically normal participants (Theoretical study 1), to present a meta-analysis of studies with right brain damaged participants, verifying their communicative processing (Theoretical study 2), to present a theoretical review about the language neuropsychological assessment after brain damage, emphasizing the functional evaluation (Theoretical study 3) and to promote a description of the RH Syndrome (Theoretical study 4). Moreover, the thesis also includes three empirical investigations, witch aim to verify demographic factors’ effects on communication performance evaluated by Protocole MEC (Empirical study 1), to present norms related to age and education, as well as reliability data (Empirical study 2) and to investigate right brain damaged communication performance in Protocole MEC’s tasks, comparing this clinical group with a control one (Empirical study 3). As results, theoretical studies 1 and 2 showed an important contribution of the right hemisphere to communication process in healthy and right brain damaged subjects. In the theoretical study 3, a growing interest in the evaluation of language functional components was observed. The fourth study characterized the main RH Syndrome’s cognitive symptoms (anosognosia, hemineglect, prosopagnosia, working and visual-spatial memory disorders, constructional dyspraxia and executive dysfunction), communication symptoms (discoursive, pragmatic, lexical-semantic 12 and prosodic deficits) and behavioral symptoms (difficulties in comprehension and production of facial and vocal expression, as well as neuropsychiatric disorders). In the empirical study 1, age and schooling effects were noted in tasks that evaluate the four communication components covered by the Protocole MEC. The education effect was more significant than the age one. The empirical study 2 presented norms stratified by age and education and it showed that Protocole MEC is a reliable instrument. In the study 3, a right brain damage effect was observed in discursive, pragmatic, lexical-semantic and prosodic tasks, followed by a less homogeneous performance of the clinical group compared to the control one.

No description available.

In neuro surgery, the expression awake surgery generally refers to tumour surgery in the brain while the patient is concious. At Akademiska Sjukhuset, Uppsala, it is today standard to perform awake surgery on tumours located in the dominant left hemisphere while awake. However, regarding awake surgery in the non-dominant right hemisphere it is not clear what functions should be tested and how this should be done. A test battery for awake surgery in the right hemisphere should be developed like the test that are used in awake surgery in the left hemisphere. Science recommends awake surgery in the right hemisphere which already being done around Europe. As patients with brain tumours have a good prognosis post operative it is important to retain, or ameliorate, their quality of life. This literature study’s main purpose is to present which functions, important for language and communication, are located in the right hemisphere. The study also intends to account for testing of these functions intraoperatively, after rightsided stroke and on persons with right hemisphere lesions. The functions are many in number, essential for maintaining the quality of life but some are difficult to test. According to the literature study, the functions that appeared most significant are neglect and pragmatic with its functional, social and communicative effects. More research on the right hemispherical functions and how they are organized is necessary. The work intends to be the basis for continued development of awake surgery tests in the right hemisphere in Akademiska Sjukhuset, Uppsala. / Inom neurokirurgin avser uttrycket vakenkirurgi oftast tumörkirurgi i hjärnan samtidigt som patienten är vid fullt medvetande under ingreppet. Vid Akademiska Sjukhuset i Uppsala är det standard att operera tumörer belägna i den språkligt dominanta vänstra hemisfären i vaket tillstånd medan man vid en del andra centra även förespråkar vakenkirurgi i den icke-språkligt dominanta högra hemisfären. Det är emellertid inte klarlagt vilka funktioner som i så fall bör testas och hur detta ska gå till. Ett testbatteri vid vakenkirurgi i höger hemisfär skulle behöva utvecklas likt det test som används vid tumörer i vänster hemisfär. Vakenkirurgi i höger hemisfär genomförs i dag på enstaka center i Europa. Då patienter med hjärntumörer kan ha en god prognos postoperativt är det angeläget att behålla, eller förbättra, deras livskvalitet. Denna litteraturstudies huvudsakliga syfte är att presentera vilka funktioner, viktiga för språk och kommunikation, som är lokaliserade i höger hemisfär. Studien redogör också för testning av dessa funktioner intraoperativt, efter högersidig stroke och på personer med högerhemisfäriska skador. Funktionerna är många till antalet, viktiga för att bibehålla livskvaliteten men en del även svårtestade. Enligt vår litteraturgenomgång är de funktioner som framstått som mest betydelsefulla neglekt och pragmatik med dess funktionella, sociala och kommuniktiva påverkan. Mer forskning om höger hemisfärs funktioner och hur dessa är organiserade behövs. Arbetet ämnar ligga till grund för fortsatt utveckling av vakenkirurgitest i höger hemisfär på Akademiska Sjukhuset i Uppsala.

The main aim of this dissertation was to investigate the difference in neural language patternsrelated to language ability in healthy adults. The focus lies on unraveling the contributions of theright‐hemispheric homologues to Broca’s area in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and Wernicke’s areain the posterior temporal and inferior parietal lobes. The functions of these regions are far from fullyunderstood at present. Two study populations consisting of healthy adults and a small group ofpeople with generalized epilepsy were investigated. Individual performance scores in tests oflanguage ability were correlated with brain activation obtained with functional magnetic resonanceimaging during semantic and word fluency tasks. Performance‐dependent differences were expectedin the left‐hemispheric Broca’s and Wernicke’s area and in their right‐hemispheric counterparts. PAPER I revealed a shift in laterality towards right‐hemispheric IFG and posterior temporal lobeactivation, related to high semantic performance. The whole‐brain analysis results of PAPER IIrevealed numerous candidate regions for language ability modulation. PAPER II also confirmed thefinding of PAPER I, by showing several performance‐dependent regions in the right‐hemispheric IFGand the posterior temporal lobe. In PAPER III, a new study population of healthy adults was tested.Again, the right posterior temporal lobe was related to high semantic performance. A decrease in lefthemisphericIFG activation could be linked to high word fluency ability. In addition, task difficultywas modulated. Increased task complexity showed to correlate positively with bilateral IFGactivation. Lastly, PAPER IV investigated anti‐correlated regions. These regions are commonly knownas the default mode network (DMN) and are normally suppressed during cognitive tasks. It wasfound that people with generalized epilepsy had an inadequate suppression of regions in the DMN,and showed poorer performance in a complex language test. The results point to neural adaptabilityin the IFG and temporal lobe. Decreased left‐lateralization of the IFG and increased rightlateralizationof the posterior temporal lobe are proposed as characteristics of individuals with highlanguage ability.

Doctor Pharmaceuticae - Dpharm / The brain laterality of pharmacists may influence where the pharmacists are best suited to work. Brain laterality refers to the asymmetry of the hemispheres of the brain with regard to specific cognitive functions, such as objectivity and emotion. The left hemisphere functions objectively and rationally, whereas the right hemisphere is subjective and non-rational. Animal behaviour in the literature demonstrated an influence of brain laterality, thus selecting an ideal work environment may also be driven by brain laterality bias. Further support for the research included: amblyopia; hemiplegia; the WADA test. The research question investigated the matching of the brain laterality groups of pharmacists to their ideal work environments. The aims investigated: ear, eye, hand and foot dominance in determining brain laterality; influence of brain laterality and reductionistic variables on job choice; location of emotion generation and job choice. Five objectives investigated these aims: influence of brain laterality alone; influence of brain laterality and reductionistic variables; influence of a new brain laterality determining continuum; Propinquity Principle in achieving data; correctness of the Right Hemisphere Theory (RHT) or the Valence Theory (VT). The RHT suggests that the right hemisphere is dominant in processing all emotion. The VT argues that the left hemisphere is specialised in processing the positive emotions while the right hemisphere is specialised in processing the negative emotions. The resulting Null Hypothesis posits that there is no statistical difference between the different brain laterality groups enabling pharmacists to work competently in any placement. The Alternative Hypothesis was that there is a statistical difference between the brain laterality groups, thus brain laterality can be used to best place pharmacists into ideal placements.

Doctor Pharmaceuticae - Dpharm / The brain laterality of pharmacists may influence where the pharmacists are best suited to work. Brain laterality refers to the asymmetry of the hemispheres of the brain with regard to specific cognitive functions, such as objectivity and emotion. The left hemisphere functions objectively and rationally, whereas the right hemisphere is subjective and nonrational. Animal behaviour in the literature demonstrated an influence of brain laterality, thus selecting an ideal work environment may also be driven by brain laterality bias. Further support for the research included: amblyopia; hemiplegia; the WADA test. The research question investigated the matching of the brain laterality groups of pharmacists to their ideal work environments. The aims investigated: ear, eye, hand and foot dominance in determining brain laterality; influence of brain laterality and reductionistic variables on job choice; location of emotion generation and job choice. Five objectives investigated these aims: influence of brain laterality alone; influence of brain laterality and reductionistic variables; influence of a new brain laterality determining continuum; Propinquity Principle in achieving data; correctness of the Right Hemisphere Theory (RHT) or the Valence Theory (VT). The RHT suggests that the right hemisphere is dominant in processing all emotion. The VT argues that the left hemisphere is specialised in processing the positive emotions while the right hemisphere is specialised in processing the negative emotions. The resulting Null Hypothesis posits that there is no statistical difference between the different brain laterality groups enabling pharmacists to work competently in any placement. The Alternative Hypothesis was that there is a statistical difference between the brain laterality groups, thus brain laterality can be used to best place pharmacists into ideal placements. Global warming questions in the questionnaire determined positive and negative emotion as well as enthusiasm for global warming problems. In South Africa, probability cluster sampling was applied utilising postal and email methods. In the UK, non-probability purposive sampling was applied utilising four methods: snowballing, email, postal, and convenience sampling. Both countries produced similar results for the same sample size.

The study of lateralisation has taken several forms ranging from investigating morphological asymmetries to research on lateralised motor and perceptual functions with many studies successfully evidencing lateralisation in a variety of species. This study, featuring three species (olive baboons, rhesus macaques, and spotted hyaenas) investigated visual field biases with the aim of determining whether emotional valence underpins these biases whilst also considering the influence of a number of other factors such as emotional intensity, age, sex, rank, and, for the first time, oestrus cycles (olive baboons only). This study aimed to establish whether Campbell’s (1982) Right Hemisphere Hypothesis or Silberman & Weingartner’s (1986) Valence Hypothesis offered the more valid theory for the lateralisation of emotion by considering interactions across the full spectrum of emotion – a question the almost exclusive investigation of negatively affective scenarios by previous studies has been unable to answer. Furthermore, this study provided a new methodology for investigating behavioural lateralisation by suggesting that separating the visual spectrum into five fields (extreme left, mid left, centre, mid right and extreme right) allows a more accurate insight into the lateralisation of visual perception than the traditional hemifield model. Finally, a more conservative method is proposed for analysing behavioural data in future studies from this field and suggests that these methods provide a more accurate representation of the lateralisation of emotion than those previously employed. A population-level left side bias was found for the spotted hyaenas, thus providing the first evidence of significantly lateralised behaviour in a large carnivore and, for this species at least, lending some support to Campbell’s (1982) Right Hemisphere hypothesis but as population-level biases were not found for either of the other species it may be premature to suggest this support is unequivocal. Significant age effects were found in two species as adult olive baboons and spotted hyaenas were both found to express significant left side biases. Spotted hyaenas were also found to express significant left side biases for females, dominant individuals, high intensity interactions, and sexual valence interactions whilst olive baboons expressed a significant left side bias during negative valence behaviours but no significant lateral biases were found in any context for rhesus macaques. In olive baboons behaviours performed by males and those of a low intensity were found to occur more frequently in the mid and central visual fields and neutral valence behaviours were less occurrent in the extreme visual fields whilst in spotted hyaenas sexual, positive and negative valence behaviours were significantly less centralised than neutral valence behaviours. Non-oestrus adult female olive baboons were significantly more strongly lateralised than in-oestrus females, thus suggesting an influence of sex hormones upon lateralisation that may also have been apparent from the hyaena data, particularly regarding the significant lateral biases observed for females and dominant individuals. Finally, this thesis discusses a number of methodological issues that were encountered during this study and provides recommendations for future research in this field. Namely, this thesis provides an updated method for calculating laterality bias that is much more suitable for species with binocular vision and details a novel method of assessing visual field preferences by considering central and peripheral visual fields as separate entities. Furthermore, this thesis suggests that the weighted method designed and implemented for this study provides a much more accurate methodological foundation for analyses which avoids the caveats that may have affected previous research and thus provides a considerably more robust template that should be encouraged for any similar subsequent studies.

Compte tenu de l ’importante augmentation de l ’espérance de vie de la population générale observée dans les dernières décennies, les études portant sur les modifications des fonctions cognitives lors du vieillissement normal et pathologique se révèlent d'un grand intérêt. Les résultats rapportés dans cette thèse contribuent à une meilleure compréhension de la nature des modifications avec l ’âge du traitement du sens métaphorique des mots et du phénomène de réorganisation fonctionnelle sous-tendant ces processus. Après une revue de littérature (chapitre 1), un premier article définissant la problématique générale du traitement du langage lors du vieillissement normal inaugure la série de travaux présentés dans cette thèse. Cet article, présenté dans le chapitre 2, confirme l ’importance du développement d ’études spécifiques permettant de faire le lien entre les différentes hypothèses portant sur les changements cognitifs propres au vieillissement normal et celles portant sur les changements propres au substrat neurobiologique du langage. Le chapitre 3 présente une étude comportementale ayant pour objectif d ’évaluer la disponibilité des ressources attentionnelles pour le traitement phonologique et sémantique des mots ainsi que son évolution possible avec l ’âge. Les conclusions tirées de cette étude vont dans le sens d ’une restriction des ressources attentionnelles particulièrement pour le traitement du sens métaphorique des mots lors du vieillissement normal. Le chapitre 4 présente une étude en neuroimagerie fonctionnelle. Cette étude a été réalisée afin de comparer les profils d'activation cérébrale des participants jeunes et âgés lors du traitement du sens métaphorique des mots. Les résultats obtenus soulignent qu ’autant pour les participants jeunes que pour les participants âgés, le traitement du sens métaphorique des mots pourrait imposer au cerveau le partage des ressources attentionnelles. Néanmoins, ils montrent une réorganisation fonctionnelle chez les participants âgés. L ’ensemble des travaux présentés appuie l ’hypothèse d ’une attribution différentielle des ressources attentionnelles ainsi que celle d ’une réorganisation fonctionnelle chez les participants âgés pour le traitement du sens métaphorique des mots. Les résultats viennent enrichir la compréhension des modèles neurocognitifs du vieillissement en ce qui concerne l ’évolution des bases neurobiologiques du langage. / Given the significant increase in life expectancy of the general population observed in recent decades, the study of alterations in cognitive functions during normal and pathological ageing is of great importance. The results reported in this thesis contribute to a better understanding of the nature of the age-related changes on processing metaphoric meaning of words and the phenomenon of functional reorganization underlying these processes. After a brief literature review (chapter 1), a first article offering a general view of the problem of language processing in normal aging introduces the series of studies presented in this thesis. This article, presented in Chapter 2, points out the importance of developing specific protocols aiming to establish a link between the different hypotheses concerning cognitive changes during normal aging and those related to changes in neurobiological substrate of language. Chapter 3 presents a behavioural study aiming to assess the availability of attentional resources for the phonological and semantic processing of words and its possible evolution with age. The findings of this study are consistent with the idea of an age- related restriction of available attentional resources for the processing of metaphorical meaning of words. Chapter 4 presents a neuroimaging study. This study was conducted to compare patterns of brain activation of young and older participants during the processing of metaphoric meaning of words. The results emphasize that both, younger and older participants, require the sharing of attentional resources during processing metaphorical meaning of words, but show a functional reorganization in the older group. Taken together, the studies presented here support the hypothesis of an age-related restriction of available attentional resources and of an age-related functional reorganization for the processing of metaphorical meaning of words. The results enrich our understanding of neurocognitive aging models regarding the evolution of neurobiological bases of language.