Hemispheric asymmetry for spatially filtered stimuli belonging to different semantic categories.
The hemispheric specialization for processing visual stimuli as a function of spatial-frequency content and semantic category was investigated. Spatially filtered pictures of animals and tools were displayed to both hemifields at nine levels of spatial-frequency filtering following a coarse-to-fine design. Results showed a differential hemispheric specialization in relation to the semantic category of stimuli. Animals might be identified at low spatial frequencies (coarse information) in a similar extent in both hemifield conditions, while a hemispheric dissociation was found for tools (the increasing of levels of high-spatial frequency information was especially needed when such stimuli were presented to the left visual field /right hemisphere (RH) relative to that for right visual field/left hemisphere presentations).
Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, via San Niccolò 93, 50125 Firenze, Italy. mpviggiano@psico.unifi.it
Maria Pia
MP
Viggiano
Andrea
A
Costantini
Manila
M
Vannucci
Stefania
S
Righi
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012660:Semantics; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology