title: A developmental study of interhemispheric transfer in children aged five to ten.
abstract: 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.
mesh_terms: 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