Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
924158 | Brain and Cognition | 2011 | 10 Pages |
Studies have suggested that supramodal attentional resources are biased rightward due to asymmetric spatial fields of the two hemispheres. This bias has been observed especially in right-handed subjects. We presented left and right-handed subjects with brief uniform grey visual stimuli in either the left or right visual hemifield. Consistent with the proposed asymmetry in attentional resources, right-handed subjects estimated right hemifield targets as having a higher contrast than physically identical stimuli presented in the left hemifield. Left-handed participants did not show a systematic rightward or leftward bias. However, the group of left-handed participants also took part in a dichotic listening experiment whose results showed that visual bias score correlated positively with ear-advantage in dichotic listening. Our results are consistent with the view that supramodal processing resources are biased towards the right hemispace, and that this bias is influenced by handedness.
► Subjectively perceived contrast is higher in right than left hemifield in right-handers. ► The asymmetry in perceived contrast is modulated by handedness. ► Contrast perception asymmetry correlated positively with an auditory bias in left-handers. ► Supramodal attentional resources are biased rightward in right-handed participants.