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Paszulewicz J, Wolski P, Gajdek M. Is laterality adaptive? Pitfalls in disentangling the laterality-performance relationship. Cortex 2019; 125:175-189. [PMID: 31999962 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.11.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2019] [Revised: 10/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Unlike non-human animal studies that have progressively demonstrated the advantages of being asymmetrical at an individual, group and population level, human studies show a quite inconsistent picture. Specifically, it is hardly clear if and how the strength of lateralization that an individual is equipped with relates to their cognitive performance. While some of these inconsistencies can be attributed to procedural and conceptual differences, the issue is aggravated by the fact that the intrinsic mathematical interdependence of the measures of laterality and performance produces spurious correlations that can be mistaken for evidence of an adaptive advantage of asymmetry. Leask and Crow [Leask, S. J., & Crow, T. J. (1997), How far does the brain lateralize?: an unbiased method for determining the optimum degree of hemispheric specialization. Neuropsychologia, 35(10), 1381-1387] devised a method of overcoming this problem that has been subsequently used in several large-sample studies investigating the asymmetry-performance relationship. In our paper we show that the original Leask and Crow method and its later variants fall victim to inherent nonlinear dependencies and produce artifacts. By applying the Leask and Crow method to random data and with mathematical analysis, we demonstrate that what has been believed to describe the true asymmetry-performance relation in fact only reflects the idiosyncrasies of the method itself. We think that the approach taken by Leask in his later paper [Leask, S. (2003), Principal curve analysis avoids assumptions of dependence between measures of hand skill. Laterality, 8(4), 307-316. doi:10.1080/13576500342000004] might be preferable.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Piotr Wolski
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
| | - Marek Gajdek
- Emeritus Associate Professor of Kielce University of Technology, Kielce, Poland
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Language lateralisation measured across linguistic and national boundaries. Cortex 2019; 111:134-147. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2018] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Hirnstein M, Hugdahl K, Hausmann M. Cognitive sex differences and hemispheric asymmetry: A critical review of 40 years of research. Laterality 2018; 24:204-252. [DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2018.1497044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marco Hirnstein
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Kenneth Hugdahl
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
- Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
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Mangalam M, Desai N, Singh M. Self-organization of laterally asymmetrical movements as a consequence of space–time optimization. J Theor Biol 2016; 390:50-60. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.10.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2015] [Revised: 09/15/2015] [Accepted: 10/30/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Papadatou-Pastou M, Tomprou DM. Intelligence and handedness: Meta-analyses of studies on intellectually disabled, typically developing, and gifted individuals. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 56:151-65. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2015] [Revised: 06/06/2015] [Accepted: 06/19/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Mellet E, Zago L, Jobard G, Crivello F, Petit L, Joliot M, Mazoyer B, Tzourio-Mazoyer N. Weak language lateralization affects both verbal and spatial skills: An fMRI study in 297 subjects. Neuropsychologia 2014; 65:56-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2014] [Revised: 10/08/2014] [Accepted: 10/10/2014] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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Hirnstein M, Hugdahl K, Hausmann M. How brain asymmetry relates to performance - a large-scale dichotic listening study. Front Psychol 2014; 4:997. [PMID: 24427151 PMCID: PMC3877751 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2013] [Accepted: 12/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
All major mental functions including language, spatial and emotional processing are lateralized but how strongly and to which hemisphere is subject to inter- and intraindividual variation. Relatively little, however, is known about how the degree and direction of lateralization affect how well the functions are carried out, i.e., how lateralization and task performance are related. The present study therefore examined the relationship between lateralization and performance in a dichotic listening task for which we had data available from 1839 participants. In this task, consonant-vowel syllables are presented simultaneously to the left and right ear, such that each ear receives a different syllable. When asked which of the two they heard best, participants typically report more syllables from the right ear, which is a marker of left-hemispheric speech dominance. We calculated the degree of lateralization (based on the difference between correct left and right ear reports) and correlated it with overall response accuracy (left plus right ear reports). In addition, we used reference models to control for statistical interdependency between left and right ear reports. The results revealed a u-shaped relationship between degree of lateralization and overall accuracy: the stronger the left or right ear advantage, the better the overall accuracy. This u-shaped asymmetry-performance relationship consistently emerged in males, females, right-/non-right-handers, and different age groups. Taken together, the present study demonstrates that performance on lateralized language functions depends on how strongly these functions are lateralized. The present study further stresses the importance of controlling for statistical interdependency when examining asymmetry-performance relationships in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Hirnstein
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
| | - Kenneth Hugdahl
- Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen Bergen, Norway ; Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital Bergen, Norway ; Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital Oslo, Norway
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Mellet E, Jobard G, Zago L, Crivello F, Petit L, Joliot M, Mazoyer B, Tzourio-Mazoyer N. Relationships between hand laterality and verbal and spatial skills in 436 healthy adults balanced for handedness. Laterality 2013; 19:383-404. [DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2013.796965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Björk T, Brus O, Osika W, Montgomery S. Laterality, hand control and scholastic performance: a British birth cohort study. BMJ Open 2012; 2:e000314. [PMID: 22446987 PMCID: PMC3312076 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To use simple measures of laterality and hand control that can identify a greater risk of poorer scholastic ability, potentially signalling suboptimal hemispheric lateralisation. DESIGN Analysis of material from a birth cohort study. SETTING Members of the National Child Development Study, a British birth cohort study following people born in 1958. PARTICIPANTS 10 612 children who undertook tests at age 11 years. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES Teacher-administered tests of non-verbal general ability, verbal general ability, reading comprehension and mathematics. RESULTS Linear regression produced associations (and 95% CIs) with tests of verbal general ability, non-verbal general ability, reading comprehension and mathematics scores for the lowest third (compared with highest) of a left-hand control test involving picking up matches of -1.21 (-1.73 to -0.68; p<0.001), -0.72 (-1.14 to -0.29; p=0.001), -0.70 (-1.06 to -0.35; p<0.001) and -1.32 (-1.90 to -0.73; p<0.001). Among those in the lowest third of the right-hand control test score, mixed-handedness compared with right-handedness was associated with poorer scholastic performance, with regression coefficients (and 95% CIs; p values) of 1.90 (-3.01 to -0.80; p=0.001), -1.25 (-2.15 to -0.35; p=0.007), -1.28 (2.04 to -0.53; p=0.001) and -1.33 (-2.53 to -0.13; p=0.030). The estimates are for a point change in the scholastic test scores, after adjustment for sex, left-hand motor function and social class. Statistically significant associations with mixed-handedness were only observed for the lowest third of right-hand motor function. CONCLUSIONS Measures involving poorer left-hand motor function may represent useful markers of reduced cognitive function possibly reflecting suboptimal hemispheric lateralisation. Crude measures of laterality such as reported non-right-handedness may be more useful for research when combined with measures of motor function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tabita Björk
- Psychiatric Research Centre, Örebro County Council, Örebro, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ole Brus
- Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Walter Osika
- Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Scott Montgomery
- Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden
- School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
- Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College, London, UK
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Cherbuin N, Sachdev PS, Anstey KJ. Mixed handedness is associated with greater age-related decline in volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala: the PATH through life study. Brain Behav 2011; 1:125-34. [PMID: 22399092 PMCID: PMC3236539 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2011] [Accepted: 08/05/2011] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Handedness has been found to be associated with structural and functional cerebral differences. Left handedness and mixed handedness also appear to be associated with an elevated risk of some developmental and immunological disorders that may contribute to pathological processes developing in ageing. Inconsistent reports show that left handedness may be more prevalent in early-onset as well as late-onset Alzheimer's disease, but might also be associated with slower decline. Such inconsistencies may be due to handedness being usually modeled as a binary construct while substantial evidence suggests it to be a continuous trait. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between brain structures known to be implicated in pathological ageing and strength and direction of handedness. The association between handedness and hippocampal and amygdalar atrophy was investigated in 327 cognitively healthy older individuals. Handedness was measured with the Edinburgh Inventory. Two measures were computed from this index, one reflecting the direction (left = 0/right = 1) and the other the degree of handedness (ranging from 0 to 1). Hippocampal and amygdalar volumes were manually traced on scans acquired 4 years apart. Regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between strength and direction of handedness and incident hippocampal and amygdalar atrophy. Analyses showed that strength but not direction of handedness was a significant predictor of hippocampal (Left: beta = 0.118, P = 0.013; Right: beta = 0.116, P = 0.010) and amygdalar (Right: beta = 0.105, P = 0.040) atrophy. The present findings suggest that mixed but not left handedness is associated with greater hippocampal and amygdalar atrophy. This effect may be due to genetic, environmental, or behavioural differences that will need further investigation in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Cherbuin
- Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National UniversityCanberra, Australia
| | | | - Kaarin J Anstey
- Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National UniversityCanberra, Australia
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Left hemisphere lateralization for language in right-handers is controlled in part by familial sinistrality, manual preference strength, and head size. J Neurosci 2010; 30:13314-8. [PMID: 20926657 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2593-10.2010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the effects of familial sinistrality (FS+; presence of left-handedness in one's close relatives), manual preference strength (MPS), and head size on the hemispheric lateralization of language in right-handers. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to map 49 individuals while listening to a story in their mother tongue. We found that individuals who had both the FS+ trait and weak MPS had no left hemisphere dominance for this lexicosyntactic task, whereas others showed a leftward functional asymmetry. In addition, the smaller the brain size, the smaller the leftward asymmetry for language, independent of FS and MPS. None of these effects were observed when the same subjects performed a spatial attention task that elicited right hemispheric functional asymmetry. These results demonstrate that the left hemisphere dominance for language in right-handers is a variable controlled, in part, by a number of specific factors, including FS, MPS, and head size.
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Hirnstein M, Leask S, Rose J, Hausmann M. Disentangling the relationship between hemispheric asymmetry and cognitive performance. Brain Cogn 2010; 73:119-27. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2010.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2009] [Revised: 10/19/2009] [Accepted: 04/12/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Leask SJ, Vermunt JK, Done DJ, Crow TJ, Blows M, Boks MP. Beyond symptom dimensions: schizophrenia risk factors for patient groups derived by latent class analysis. Schizophr Res 2009; 115:346-50. [PMID: 19840897 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2009.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2009] [Revised: 09/08/2009] [Accepted: 09/13/2009] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Patients grouped by latent class analysis of symptoms show some consensus between studies, and may be less etiologically heterogeneous than current diagnoses. If so, the effect size of 'neurodevelopmental' risk factors may be greater than in equivalent DSMIV diagnostic groups. METHOD Two hundred fifty six individuals with neurodevelopmental risk factors recorded in the National Child Development Study (1958) UK birth cohort were grouped by data-driven illness subtypes, derived previously in over 1000 individuals. The effect sizes of these risks were compared between data-derived and DSMIV schizophrenia (295.x) groups. RESULTS Compared to DSMIV schizophrenia, the data-driven subtype broadly characterized by the presence of psychotic symptoms in the absence of affective symptoms showed significantly greater effect sizes in eight out of thirteen continuously-rated risk factors: birth weight, cognition, childhood behavioural problems, and neurological softsigns including handedness. CONCLUSION A data-driven subgroup of schizophrenia patients, characterized as lacking co-morbid depressive symptoms, is less heterogeneous with respect to neurodevelopmental etiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Leask
- Division of Psychiatry, Nottingham University, A floor, South Block, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK.
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Cheyne CP, Roberts N, Crow TJ, Leask SJ, Garcia-Finana M. The effect of handedness on academic ability: a multivariate linear mixed model approach. Laterality 2009; 15:451-64. [PMID: 19536686 DOI: 10.1080/13576500902976956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
In recent years questions have arisen about whether there are any links between handedness and academic abilities as well as other factors. In this study we investigate the effects of gender, writing hand, relative hand skill, and UK region on mathematics and reading test scores by applying a multivariate linear mixed-effects model. A data sample based on 11,847 11-year-old pupils across the UK from the National Child Development Study was considered for the analysis. Our results show that pupils who write with one hand while having better skill with their other hand (i.e., inconsistent writing hand and superior hand) obtained lower test scores in both reading and mathematics than pupils with consistent writing hand and superior hand. Furthermore, we confirm previous findings that degree of relative hand skill has a significant effect on both reading and maths scores and that this association is not linear. We also found higher scores of reading in children from the south of England, and of mathematics in children from the south of England and Scotland, when compared to other UK regions.
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Cognitive ability and continuous measures of relative hand skill: A note. Neuropsychologia 2008; 46:2091-4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2007] [Revised: 01/24/2008] [Accepted: 02/01/2008] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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