Phonological and semantic processing of words: Laterality changes according to gender in right- and left-handers

Abstract

The ability of cerebral hemispheres to process language is influenced by multiple factors. The well-known right visual field advantage in word recognition in divided visual field tasks is affected by both intra- and inter-individual variables. For example, hemispheric linguistic abilities may vary within a given individual according to the language component being processed, whereas variations between individuals may be modulated by the individual's handedness and gender. The objective of this divided visual field study was to compare gender differences in right- and left-handers in relation to their hemispheric abilities in performing phonological and semantic tasks. The results indicate that for both types of processing, gender had a different impact on right- and left-handed groups. Unexpectedly, a gender difference in laterality pattern was found in left-handers but not in right-handers for both phonological and semantic abilities. Intriguingly, left-handed men displayed a more symmetrical laterality pattern in phonological and semantic abilities than left-handed women.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Fellowship from the Fonds pour la recherche de la santé au Québec (FRSQ) to T. T. and a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (no. MOP-15006) to Y. J.

Notes

¹The average RT and ER were calculated for targets presented to the centre visual field in order to verify whether a gender difference was not related to general language ability differences in central vision, when both hemispheres have access to the word information. Two analyses of variance Gender×Handedness were conducted on phonological data, and neither the variable Handedness (Phonology RT: F(1, 65) = 0.01, p=.93, ER: F(1, 65) = 0.78, p=.38) nor the variable Gender revealed a significant effect (Phonology RT: F(1, 65) = 0.00, p=.94, ER: F(1, 65) = 0.83, p=.36). Two other analyses of variance Gender × Handedness were conducted on semantic data, and again neither the variable Handedness (Semantic: RT: F(1, 65) = 0.12, p=.74, ER: F(1, 65) = 1.02, p=.32) nor the variable Gender yielded a significant effect (Semantic RT: F(1, 64) = 0.017, p=.89, ER: F(1, 65) = 0.01, p=.92).