Right Cerebral Hemispheric Function: Behavioral Correlates

Abstract

Studies of cerebral asymmetry generally support verbal-analytic functions on the left hemisphere and nonverbal, integrative functions on the right. The hypothesis of this investigation was that right hemisphere functions have greater significance for adaptive behaviors, i.e., verbal-analytic abilities are not specifically related to environmental adjustment or coping skills. Right hemi-spherically strong children were compared with normal controls along six behavioral parameters. The results supported environmental awareness and adaptive skills as related more to the right hemisphere than the left. It is suggested that self-monitoring of behavior and possibly affective integration appear to be more related to the processing of spatial, sequential information on the right hemisphere than verbal-analytic functions on the left.