A developmental study of interhemispheric transfer in children aged five to ten.
In light of anatomical evidence that the corpus callosum does not become fully mature until about age 10, the present study attempted to find evidence of a developmental increase in the efficiency with which information is transferred between the 2 hands (hemispheres). Children were tested at ages 5, 7, and 9 on a battery of 4 tasks which measured the interhemispheric transfer of information necessary to (1) perform a simple size discrimination, (2) reproduce a temporal pattern, (3) reproduce a linear motor movement, and (4) reconstruct a 2-dimensional spatial pattern. All tasks were performed without visual guidance and utilized unilateral tactual and/or kinesthetic input and a 1-handed response. 2 tasks--the motor movement task and the spatial pattern task--showed evidence of a developmental increase in interhemispheric transfer, but the developmental pattern seen on these 2 tasks differed. Possible reasons for the between-task differences are discussed as well as their possible developmental implications.
D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000502:physiology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D012858:Size Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology