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Science 18 July 2003:
Vol. 301. no. 5631, pp. 322 - 323
DOI: 10.1126/science.1087853
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Perspectives

NEUROSCIENCE:
When Is a Word Not a Word?

Anthony R. McIntosh and Nancy J. Lobaugh

It has long been debated whether specialization of the left and right brain hemispheres with regard to language depends on the linguistic stimulus itself or on the task that must be performed with that stimulus. In their Perspective, McIntosh and Lobaugh discuss new work (Stephan et al.) that resolves this debate, showing that it is the task to be performed with a linguistic stimulus that dictates which hemisphere is the most active.

A. R. McIntosh is in the Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest Centre, Toronto M6A 2E1, Canada. E-mail: rmcintosh{at}rotman-baycrest.on.ca. N. J. Lobaugh is at Imaging Research, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Science Centre, Toronto M4N 3M5, Canada. E-mail: nlobaugh{at}sten.sunnybrook.utoronto.ca

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)