Liz Franz

Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

How Do Our Hands Think?

I will present a synthesis of original research performed in our laboratory that has aimed to help define the neural processes involved in the representation and planning of bimanual actions. Included in this work will be data obtained from individuals with callosotomy (split-brain), callosal agenesis, or phantom limbs. The primary focus will be on the internal planning properties underlying actions produced from memory. The tasks will range from two hand drawing of dissimilar trajectories (dual tasks) to two hand performance of single goal-related actions. Following presentation of data from three sets of studies, I will present a model of bimanual planning that incorporates task selection, trajectory planning, and execution modules based on features of structural symmetry and functional asymmetry in the human brain. I will conclude with the speculative claim that bimanual actions led to our highly-evolved processes of cognition.

This page was last updated on 16 Feb 2001.

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