DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE & THOUGHT Ego-Centric Speech & The
Origin of Thought by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D. Non-verbal imagery and
hallucinations, as well as visual-emotional dream activity are
associated with activity within the right hemisphere and
inferior temporal lobe (chapter 10, 13, 21) -as well as within
the brainstem (chapter 17). Conversely, verbal thinking is
associated with the left hemisphere (Joseph 1982). Although an
individual may utilize visual, emotional, olfactory, musical, or
tactile "imagery" when they think, thinking may also take the
form of "words" which might be "heard" or rather, experienced,
within one's own head (or mind). When engage in verbal thought,
the language axis of the left hemisphere typically becomes
activated as indicated by functional imaging (Buchel et al.,
1998; Demonet, et al., 1994; Paulesu, et al., 1993; Peterson et
al., 1988). Verbal thinking is clearly a form of communication
and generally consists of an organized hierarchy of
associations, symbols, and labels which app