Cooperation or competition of the two hemispheres in processing characters presented at vertical midline

PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e57421. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057421. Epub 2013 Feb 22.

Abstract

Little is known about how the hemispheres interact in processing of stimuli presented at vertical midline. Processing might be mutually independent or cooperative. Here we measured target identification and visually evoked EEG potentials while stimulus streams containing two targets, T1 and T2, were either presented at vertical midline above and below fixation, or laterally, left and right. With left and right streams, potentials evoked by filler stimuli and by T2 were earlier at the right than the left visual cortex, and T2 was better identified left than right, confirming earlier results and suggesting better capabilities of the right hemisphere in this task. With streams above and below fixation, EEG potentials evoked by filler stimuli and by T2 were likewise earlier at the right than the left hemisphere, and T2 was generally identified as well as, but not better than left T2, in one target constellation even worse (T2 in lower stream preceded by T1 in upper stream). These results suggest right-hemisphere preference for this task even with stimuli at vertical midline, and no added value through hemispheric cooperation. Lacking asymmetry for T1 amidst asymmetries for filler stimuli and for T2 might indicate alternating access of the hemispheres to midline stimuli as one means of hemispheric division of labor.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention / physiology
  • Brain Mapping / methods
  • Dominance, Cerebral / physiology*
  • Electroencephalography / methods
  • Evoked Potentials, Visual / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual / physiology*
  • Photic Stimulation / methods
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Visual Cortex / physiology*
  • Visual Fields / physiology
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This research was funded by grant VE110/15-2 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (www.dfg.de) to the first author, as part of the package proposal "neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception" (PAK270). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.