Prof. Bernard Mazoyer | Brain hemispheric specialization: recent advances with the BIL&GIN database

Hemispheric specialization (HS), the hosting of a cognitive cognition by a preferred hemisphere, is a key component of brain functioning. In the human species, HS concerns major cognitive functions including language and manual preference for which about 90% of individuals exhibit a left hemisphere dominance. Understanding how the human brain implements HS and the determinants of its variability is at the core of the BIL&GIN project (http://www.gin.cnrs.fr/en/current-research/axis2/bilgin-en/) in which a sample of 450 individuals, balanced for gender and handedness, were deeply phenotyped in terms of cognitive abilities, brain structure and cognitive networks, as well as genotyped. The lecture will describe the content of the BIL&GIN and review the most recent findings obtained with this unique dataset.