(no subject)

[novapsyche]

Where the brain organizes actions

Researchers have discovered that Broca's area in the brain--best known as the region that evolved to manage speech production--is a major "executive" center in the brain for organizing hierarchies of behaviors. Such planning ability, from cooking a meal to organizing a space mission, is considered one of the hallmarks of human intelligence.

The researchers found that Broca's area--which lies on the left side of the brain about in the temple region--and its counterpart on the right side activate when people are asked to organize plans of action. They said their finding of the general executive function of Broca's area could explain its key role in language production.

Importantly, the researchers found that this executive function of these cortical regions was distinct from the organization of temporal sequences of actions.

(thanks to dsgood for the heads-up)

Comments

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

Makes me wonder if someone didn't learn language as a child for one reason or another (deafness, raised by wolves, whatever) if they'd have other effects as well, since that region of the brain didn't develop fully.

[guttaperk.livejournal.com]

They've actually been speculating for some time that the left side of the brain might not be "logical" as some people like to claim, but rather *temporal*- specialised in dealing with time-sensitive sequences, including language sequencing.

This finding is congruent with that view.