RIGHT-HEMISPHERE SPECIALIZATION FOR MENTAL ROTATION IN NORMALS AND BRAIN-DAMAGED SUBJECTS

Hemisphere specialization for mental rotation was investigated utilizing Shepard's (1971) paradigm. In each of two experiments, the procedure involved presenting pairs of novel nonverbal stimuli at various angles of disparity. Subjects were instructed to construct a mental image of one stimulus, rotate this image, judge whether or not the image was a congruent match with its mate. Both response time and accuracy were measured. In Experiment 1, the testing of right-handed normals revealed a significant left visual field advantage for accuracy (p<.0001) and response time (p<.05). In Experiment 2, a comparison of right parietal lesioned patients with both left parietal lesioned patients and matched normal controls likewise revealed significant right lesion effects for accuracy (p>.0001) and response time (p>.01). Right hemisphere specialization for mental rotation was documented for both normals and brain damaged subjects. © 1990, Masson Italia Periodici s.r.l. Milano. All rights reserved.