Developmental instability and cerebral lateralization

Author(s): Gangestad, S. W., Thoma, R., Shaw, P., Repa, K.

Journal/Book: Neuropsychology. 1997; 11: 750 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Amer Psychological Assoc. 552-561.

Abstract: On the basis of prior studies of handedness, it was predicted that variations from modal asymmetry scores on cognitive tasks, in either direction from the mean, would be associated with an elevated incidence of classic markers of developmental instability (minor physical anomalies and fluctuating anatomic asymmetries). University students (N = 146) were administered 4 tasks that typically reveal functional asymmetries: the fused rhymed words dichotic listening task, the line bisection task, the chimeric faces task, and the cartoon faces task. A composite measure of developmental instability was computed from minor physical anomalies and fluctuating asymmetries. Participants with greater evidence of developmental instability had more atypical lateralization scores, deviating more from the sample mean, in either direction. Directional asymmetries were unrelated to developmental instability. These results suggest that developmental instability influences variation in the lateralization of cognitive skills as well as handedness.

Note: Article Yeo RA, Univ New Mexico, Dept Psychol, Albuquerque,NM 87131 USA

Keyword(s): HAND PREFERENCE; FLUCTUATING ASYMMETRY; HUMAN HANDEDNESS; HETEROZYGOSITY; HEMISPHERES; STABILITY; BRAIN; BEHAVIOR; PATTERNS; BALANCE

Zurück | Weiter