Answer
The two cerebral hemispheres look similar grossly, but they are not identical either in structure or in function:
Structural differences
In females the left temporal lobe is longer than the right
In left handed people the left frontal, left parietal, and the left occipital lobes are wider than those in right-handed people.
Functional differences
The left cerebral hemispheres is concerned with the following functions:
Speech; learning from vocal sources, rational symbolic thinking, and vision in the right visual field
The right hemisphere controls the following activities; memory for shapes, language comprehension; learning non-vocal sounds, musical ability, recognition of faces, dealing with spatial relationships and vision in the left visual field.
Work Step by Step
The differences in function are referred to as lateralization. This means that neither hemisphere is dominant-- each is specialized for certain tasks:
The left hemisphere is specialized for spoken and written language, science and mathematics and sequential reasoning. It breaks information into small bits and analyze it linearly On the other had the right deals with integration and holistic viewing of information. It is the seat o imagination, insight,perception of patterns, musical and artistic skills, spatial relationships, and comparison of sights, sounds , smells and tastes.
Lateralization develops with age In young people if an hemisphere is damaged the other can take over. Adults show more lateralization and they suffer more functional loss when one hemisphere is damaged.
