Is functional hemispheric lateralization guided by structural cerebral asymmetry?

Abstract

"Lateralized hemispheric function is guided by structural cerebral asymmetry" remains an attractive hypothesis. It is plausible that genetically determined events lead to structural asymmetry that in turn guide lateralized functional development. However, hemispheric specializations are neither inevitable consequences of early local cytoarchitectural differences nor immutably fixed in structure. The human brain possesses dynamic plasticity as its primary mission and can override and transcend hemispheric differences for preservation of higher cognitive functions such as speech and language.