This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Brain Asymmetry of Structure and/or Function" that was published in Symmetry

Functional lateralization in the human brain was first identified in the classic observations by Broca in the 19th century. Only one hundred years later, however, research on this topic began anew, discovering that humans share brain lateralization not only with other mammals, but with other vertebrates and even invertebrates. Studies on lateralization have also received considerable attention in recent years due to their important evolutionary implications, becoming an important and flourishing field of investigation worldwide among ethnologists and psychologists. The chapters of this book concern the emergence and adaptive function of lateralization in several aspects of behavior for a wide range of vertebrate taxa. These studies span from how lateralization affects some aspects of fitness in fishes, or how it affects the predatory and the exploratory behavior of lizards, to navigation in the homing flights of pigeons, social learning in chicks, the influence of lateralization on the ontogeny process of chicks, and the similarity of manual lateralization (handedness) between humans and apes, our closest relatives.

This book is a collection of papers written by leaders in the field of lateralized brain function and behaviour in non-human animals. The papers cover the asymmetry of brain mechanisms and behaviour in a wide range of both vertebrate and invertebrate species. Each paper focuses on one of the following topics: the link between population-level lateralization and social behaviour; the processes in the avian brain that permit one brain hemisphere to take control of behaviour; lateralized attention to predators and the common pattern of lateralization in vertebrate species; visual and auditory lateralization; influences that alter the development of lateralization—specifically, the effect of temperature on the development of lateralization in sharks; and the importance of understanding lateralization when considering both the training and welfare of dogs. Collectively, these studies address questions of why different species have asymmetry of brain and behaviour, how it develops, and how this is dealt with by these different species. The papers report on the lateralization of different types of behaviour, each going beyond merely reporting the presence of asymmetry and shedding light on its function and on the mechanisms involved in its expression.

This volume grew out of the 2nd International Symposium on Behavioral and Morphological Asymmetries, which took place in St. Petersburg (Russia) in September 2004 at the St. Petersburg State University under the patronage of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists. The Symposium is the descendant of a satellite event with a similar name of the 4t

`This is an impressive work... and will provide the advanced reader with a rich source of theory and evidence. There is a huge amount to be got from the book and I suspect it will become a key work' - J Gavin Bremner, Department of Psychology, Lancaster University The Handbook of Developmental Psychology is a comprehensive, authoritative yet frontier-pushing overview of the study of human development presented in a single-volume format. It is ideal for experienced individuals wishing for an up-to-date survey of the central themes prevalent to developmental psychology, both past and present, and for those seeking a reference work to help appreciate the subject for the first time. The insightful contributions from world-leading developmental psychologists successfully and usefully integrate different perspectives to studying the subject, following a systematic life-span structure, from pre-natal development through to old age in human beings. The Handbook then concludes with a substantive section on the methodological approaches to the study of development, focusing on both qualitative and quantitative techniques. This unique reference work will be hugely influential for anyone needing or wishing for a broad, yet enriched understanding of this fascinating subject. It will be a particularly invaluable resource for academics and researchers in the fields of developmental psychology, education, parenting, cultural and biological psychology and anthropology.

Research on brain asymmetry, with particular emphasis on findings made possible by recent advances in neuroimaging.