Dr Gillian Forrester(Birkbeck College): What can motor laterality tell us about the evolution and development of human cognition?
When:
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Venue:
Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street
No booking required
Cerebral lateralisation appears to reflect an evolutionary adaptive characteristic of the vertebrate brain. Specialisation of left and right hemispheric function is thought to facilitate reflexive and automatic responses in order to increase the survival of individuals. Recent non-human animal investigations have revealed that a wide range of species demonstrate right hemisphere dominance for processing of social-emotional stimuli (e.g. predator avoidance) and left hemisphere dominance for processes requiring structured motor actions (e.g. feeding). I will argue that these evolutionarily early hemispheric specialisations provided a platform from which human higher cognitive function could scaffold. Moreover, I will demonstrate how the lateralized motor actions of modern humans can act as behavioral biomarkers for neurotypical and non-neurotypical development. I will make a case for creating a large-scale longitudinal programme of research to profile motor development in children at high- and low-risk for neurodevelopmental disorders
Brief Biography: Gillian Forrester is comparative cognitive neuroscientist investigating human and animal cognition. She has recently taken up a position as a senior lecturer in Birkbeck's Department of Psychological Sciences. Gillian is currently investigating the links between motor and cognitive abilities in order to gain a better understanding regarding the evolution and development of social and communication processes. Her participant populations consist of: gorillas, chimpanzees, typically developing children and children diagnosed with autism. Gillian obtained a DPhil in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University where she gained experience with brain-imaging and quantitative data analysis methods. As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sussex, she combined her understanding of brain organisation and function with video-based quantitative evaluation of naturalistic behaviour.