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We found that the same striking difference between unilateral and bilateral damage emerged in a distributed, recurrent attractor neural network. The difference persists in simple feedforward networks, where it can be understood in explicit quantitative terms. In essence, damage both distorts and reduces the magnitude of relevant activity in each hemisphere. Unilateral damage reduces the relative magnitude of the contribution to performance of the damaged side, allowing the intact side to dominate performance. In contrast, balanced bilateral damage distorts representations on both sides, which contribute equally, resulting in degraded performance. The model's ability to account for relevant patient data suggests that mechanisms similar to those in the model may operate in the brain.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00441","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,6,28]],"date-time":"2013-06-28T11:36:33Z","timestamp":1372419393000},"page":"2107-2123","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":94,"title":["Why Bilateral Damage Is Worse than Unilateral Damage to the Brain"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Anna C.","family":"Schapiro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"1Stanford University"},{"name":"2Princeton University"}]},{"given":"James L.","family":"McClelland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1Stanford University"}]},{"given":"Stephen R.","family":"Welbourne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"3University of Manchester"}]},{"given":"Timothy T.","family":"Rogers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"4University of Wisconsin-Madison"}]},{"given":"Matthew A.","family":"Lambon Ralph","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"3University of Manchester"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,12,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021072913363824900_R1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.1162\/089892904322926782","article-title":"Impaired judgments of sadness but not happiness following bilateral amygdala damage.","volume":"16","author":"Adolphs","year":"2004","journal-title":"Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience"},{"key":"2021072913363824900_R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2728","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhq019","article-title":"The ventral and inferolateral aspects of the anterior temporal lobe are crucial in semantic memory: Evidence from a novel direct comparison of distortion-corrected fMRI, rTMS, and semantic dementia.","volume":"20","author":"Binney","year":"2010","journal-title":"Cerebral Cortex"},{"key":"2021072913363824900_R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1207","DOI":"10.1016\/S0028-3932(00)00034-8","article-title":"Non-verbal semantic impairment in semantic dementia.","volume":"38","author":"Bozeat","year":"2000","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"2021072913363824900_R4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-662-03733-1","volume-title":"Cortex: Statistics and geometry of neuronal connectivity.","author":"Braitenberg","year":"1998"},{"key":"2021072913363824900_R5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.1888.0011","article-title":"An investigation into the functions of the occipital and temporal lobes of the monkey's brain.","volume":"179","author":"Brown","year":"1888","journal-title":"Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London"},{"key":"2021072913363824900_R6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"248","DOI":"10.1017\/S1355617706060322","article-title":"Is the prefrontal cortex necessary for delay task performance? 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