A discussion of concepts of lateralization and handedness is followed by an examination of the three-way relationships between lateralization of brain function, level of function, and schizophrenia. It is proposed that conventional examinations of such relationships, using lateralization indices, can be unenlightening or even misleading, and that alternative approaches are preferable. Support for this thesis is sought in analyses of data from two UK national birth cohorts. The author's process of gathering data on psychiatric outcomes is presented in detail. Previously-published findings in this data, employing laterality indices, are presented and their shortcomings discussed. Several alternative approaches to examining the relationships between measures of functional lateralization and level of function are developed, including a novel application of the method of principal curves, and a three-dimensional presentation of function as height over a 'laterality surface'. This latter approach is applied to a number of measures of function in the cohort datasets, including measures of cognitive ability, social success and psychiatric illness, including schizophrenia. The benefits of this method of presentation over previously-published presentations are discussed in the context of several contemporary hypotheses that touch upon the relationships between functional lateralization, cognitive function and schizophrenia.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:559498 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Leask, Stuart J. |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11051/ |
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