EEG correlates of behavioural laterality: right-handedness

Percept Mot Skills. 1999 Oct;89(2):403-11. doi: 10.2466/pms.1999.89.2.403.

Abstract

Among right-handers, the magnitude of differences in proficiency between the left and right hands varies considerably. Yet significance of the extent of right-handedness is still a controversial issue. To examine whether individual differences in asymmetry of hand skill can partly be attributed to individual differences in asymmetrical hemispheric activation, handedness and electroencephalographic (EEG) laterality were correlated in two large samples (ns = 60 and 128). Analysis indicated that part of the variability in right-handedness may arise from activation asymmetries in the cortex, but whether this relation becomes apparent depends on the cortical area examined and on the experimental condition under which the EEG measures are taken.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Attention / physiology
  • Auditory Perception / physiology
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiology
  • Electroencephalography / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Motor Skills / physiology
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Visual Perception / physiology