Oral asymmetries during verbal and non-verbal movements of the mouth.
Asymmetries in the amplitude and velocity of oral movements were studied in 24 right-handed subjects as they produced either syllables or non-verbal movements of the mouth. Single-frame analysis of the videotaped mouth movements revealed that the right side of the mouth opened wider and faster than the left for both verbal and non-verbal movements. Moreover, the size of the right bias increased as a function of the complexity of required movements. In addition, movements embedded within a series showed a greater right bias than movements at the beginning of a series. On the whole, females exhibited larger asymmetries than males. These results provide support for the suggestion that the left hemisphere plays an important role in the control of complex motor behaviour.
D000328:Adult; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009055:Mouth / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement; D010699:Phonation; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D014831:Voice