Auditory space perception in left- and right-handers.
Several studies have shown that handedness has an impact on visual spatial abilities. Here we investigated the effect of laterality on auditory space perception. Participants (33 right-handers, 20 left-handers) completed two tasks of sound localization. In a dark, anechoic, and sound-proof room, sound stimuli (broadband noise) were presented via 21 loudspeakers mounted horizontally (from 80 degrees on the left to 80 degrees on the right). Participants had to localize the target either by using a swivel hand-pointer or by head-pointing. Individual lateral preferences of eye, ear, hand, and foot were obtained using a questionnaire. With both pointing methods, participants showed a bias in sound localization that was to the side contralateral to the preferred hand, an effect that was unrelated to their overall precision. This partially parallels findings in the visual modality as left-handers typically have a more rightward bias in visual line bisection compared with right-handers. Despite the differences in neural processing of auditory and visual spatial information these findings show similar effects of lateral preference on auditory and visual spatial perception. This suggests that supramodal neural processes are involved in the mechanisms generating laterality in space perception.
Department of Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany. sebastian.ocklenburg@rub.de
Sebastian
S
Ocklenburg
Marco
M
Hirnstein
Markus
M
Hausmann
Jörg
J
Lewald
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006225:Hand; D019416:Head Movements; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D013017:Sound Localization; D013028:Space Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult