Biographical Information
Dr Corballis is Professor of Psychology at the University of Auckland and a member of the Research Centre for Cognitive Science. His interests lie in brain imaging, psychological investigation of the effects of callosotomy (“splitting the brain”), cerebral asymmetry and handedness, and the nature and evolution of language. His 1991 book The Lopsided Ape: Evolution of the Generative Mind (Oxford University Press) draws on his work in all of these areas, and argues that the left side of the human brain is uniquely equipped for generative thinking, as exemplified in language, imagination, and manufacture. He continues to develop these ideas through experimental study of both normal and callosotomized individuals, and by recording brain activity while people perform cognitive tasks. His 2002 book From Hand to Mouth: The Origins of Language (Princeton University Press) argues that language emerged, not from the vocal calls of primates, but from manual gestures. This theory has implications for the general understanding of how humans evolved, and draws increasingly on evidence from human genetics, archaeology, psychology, and neuroscience. Professor Corballis is author or co-author of 8 books and over 200 articles and book chapters.
