Neuropsychology Practice Test

Lateralization describes the idea that certain cognitive functions are more strongly supported by one hemisphere than the other. This reflects hemispheric asymmetry in the brain, where processes like language often rely more on the left side for many people, while other abilities such as certain spatial or holistic tasks lean more on the right. It’s understood as a spectrum with variation across individuals, rather than an absolute split. Hemispheric dominance is a related notion about which hemisphere tends to dominate a given function, but lateralization is the standard term used to describe the cognitive asymmetry across hemispheres. Localization, on the other hand, refers to where in the brain a function is implemented at the level of specific regions rather than across hemispheres. Neuroplasticity describes the brain’s ability to reorganize connections, not the hemispheric distribution of functions.