Document Type
Poster Presentation
Start Date
18-4-2019 9:15 AM
End Date
18-4-2019 10:30 AM
Keywords
handedness, verbal learning, familial-sinistrality
Biography
Laura Yost is a sophomore at Marshall University, majoring in psychology. She is member of the psychology club, as well as a Young Life leader at HHS. She is planning on pursuing a Ph.D in neuropsychology later on.
Major
Psychology
Advisor for this project
Jon Day-Brown
Abstract
In the majority of individuals, both left and right handed, language processes are controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere, termed leftward asymmetry. However, a considerable proportion of left-handers exhibit non-leftward language asymmetry as revealed through brain imaging. Since most research has been conducted exclusively on right-handed individuals, we have little understanding of how this difference in brain networks affects behavioral performance on measures of language memory. As a first step in examining this potential difference, we examined the relationship between handedness (measured by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, EHI), familial-sinistrality (measured by first-order left-handed relatives), and the California Verbal Learning Task (CVLT), an instrument that has been shown to differentiate left-ward and non-left-ward language lateralization (Catani, et al. 2007). These researchers demonstrated that non-leftward language lateralization was correlated with higher scores on the CVLT. However, they only tested self-reported right-handed individuals. Since left-handed individuals are more likely to exhibit non-leftward language lateralization, we anticipate that familial-sinistrality (a proxy for the genetic component of left-handedness) and the EHI would be positively correlated with CVLT scores.
References
Catani, M., Allin, M. P. G., Masud, H., Pugliese, L., Mesulam, M. M., Murray, R. M., & Jones D. K. (2007). Symmetries in human brain language pathways correlate with verbal recall. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104 (43), 17163-17168. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0702116104
Relationship Between Handedness, Familial-Sinistrality, and Verbal Learning
In the majority of individuals, both left and right handed, language processes are controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere, termed leftward asymmetry. However, a considerable proportion of left-handers exhibit non-leftward language asymmetry as revealed through brain imaging. Since most research has been conducted exclusively on right-handed individuals, we have little understanding of how this difference in brain networks affects behavioral performance on measures of language memory. As a first step in examining this potential difference, we examined the relationship between handedness (measured by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, EHI), familial-sinistrality (measured by first-order left-handed relatives), and the California Verbal Learning Task (CVLT), an instrument that has been shown to differentiate left-ward and non-left-ward language lateralization (Catani, et al. 2007). These researchers demonstrated that non-leftward language lateralization was correlated with higher scores on the CVLT. However, they only tested self-reported right-handed individuals. Since left-handed individuals are more likely to exhibit non-leftward language lateralization, we anticipate that familial-sinistrality (a proxy for the genetic component of left-handedness) and the EHI would be positively correlated with CVLT scores.
References
Catani, M., Allin, M. P. G., Masud, H., Pugliese, L., Mesulam, M. M., Murray, R. M., & Jones D. K. (2007). Symmetries in human brain language pathways correlate with verbal recall. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104 (43), 17163-17168. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0702116104
