Dichotic listening and attention: the legacy of Phil Bryden

ABSTRACT

In this article I review the early auditory laterality and dichotic listening research from the perspective of the legacy of Phil Bryden's pioneering contributions to not only empirical work, but also on theory, critical interpretations of results, and statistical issues, with a focus on the role of attention. In doing so, I am describing how my own research was shaped and influenced by Phil Bryden and his work on auditory laterality and dichotic listening. In addition to personal recollections of my meetings and discussions with Phil that had a profound impact on my later career, I have focused the overview on Phil's early dichotic listening papers from the 1960s, to be followed by a detailed review and discussion of the seminal [Bryden, M. P., Munhall, K., & Allard, F. (1983). Attentional biases and the right-ear effect in dichotic listening. Brain and Language, 18, 236–248] paper on attentional effects on the ear advantage in dichotic listening. Finally, I review the little known fact that Phil was also a contributor to the very first functional neuroimaging study that used dichotic stimuli.

KEYWORDS:

• Dichotic listening
• attention
• executive control
• functional neuroimaging

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

The research described in the review was funded by grants from the Swedish Research Council, Research Council of Norway, and from the University of Bergen, Norway.