Contradicting earlier beliefs held by scientists that humans only used one side of their brains to speak, a new study suggests that in fact, both sides are used during speech, the Medical Daily reported.
Researchers at New York University and NYU Langone Medical Center found that the two hemispheres of the human brain are interwoven for the purpose of speech, contradicting a longstanding theory that the brain "lateralizes speech and language to the left hemisphere of the brain," the Medical Daily reported.
"Our findings upend what has been universally accepted in the scientific community - that we use only one side of our brains for speech," Bijan Pesaran, associate professor at NYU Center for Neural Science, said in a statement. "In addition, now that we have a firmer understanding of how speech is generated, our work toward finding remedies for speech afflictions is much better informed."
For the study, researchers analyzed brain functions of epilepsy patients to examine the connections between speech and the neurological process. They tested the parts of the brain that were used during speech. Here, the study's subjects were asked to repeat two "non-words"-"kig" and "pob." Using non-words as a prompt to gauge neurological activity, the researchers were able to isolate speech from language.
Their findings showed that both sides of the brain were used during speck, meaning it is a bilateral function.
"Now that we have greater insights into the connection between the brain and speech, we can begin to develop new ways to aid those trying to regain the ability to speak after a stroke or injuries resulting in brain damage," Pesaran said. "With this greater understanding of the speech process, we can retool rehabilitation methods in ways that isolate speech recovery and that don't involve language."
Researchers said they believe the earlier beliefs that speech is lateralized stem from studies that rely on indirect measurements of brain activity.
