Concept and verbal ability as related to the cerebral hemispheres

A new theory of human brain function is outlined in terms of the cooperative interaction of the cerebral hemispheres. The well-established verbal, symbolic functions of the left hemisphere and the wholistic, spatial functions of the right hemisphere are seen as separate and independent manifestations of the normally integrated verbal-analytic (or "error detector") and conceptual (or "goal state") functions of the left and right, respectively. The relationship between the hemispheres is described in terms of the "goal-directed" system of cybernetics and then compared with related ideas previously presented by Dimond, Penfield, and Piaget.