Eye dominance and somatosensory asymmetry in relation to motor asymmetry: Evidence from hemiplegic children

Abstract

Fifty‐four children with congenital hemiplegia (25 left and 29 right hemiplegics) were administered a battery of sensory and perceptual tests, the results of which were related to measures of motor asymmetry obtained from the same children. Asymmetries of visual acuity and eye dominance were largely independent of motor asymmetry. Asymmetries of stereognosis and finger identification, but not graphesthesia, were associated with various measures of motor asymmetry. It appears that the association between tactile and motor asymmetries varies with the motor demands of the tactile task and that there is little intrinsic relationship between somatosensory and motor asymmetry. Even though the development of motor skill in these children was more impaired by left‐hemisphere damage than by right‐hemisphere damage, left‐and right‐hemisphere damage produced equivalent deficits in their sensory and perceptual ability.