Hemispheric asymmetries for processing duration of non-verbal and verbal sounds were investigated in 60 right-handed subjects. Two dichotic tests with attention directed to one ear were used, one with complex tones and one with consonant-vowel syllables. Stimuli had three possible durations: 350, 500, and 650 ms. Subjects judged whether the duration of a probe was same or different compared to the duration of the target presented before it. Target and probe were part of two dichotic pairs presented with 1 s interstimulus interval and occurred on the same side. Dependent variables were reaction time and accuracy. Results showed a significant right ear advantage for both dependent variables with both complex tones and consonant-vowel syllables. This study provides behavioural evidence of a left hemisphere specialization for duration perception of both musical and speech sounds in line with the current view based on a parameter - rather than domain-specific structuring of hemispheric perceptual asymmetries.

Left hemisphere specialization for duration discrimination of musical and speech sounds

BRANCUCCI, Alfredo;TOMMASI, Luca
2008-01-01

Abstract

Hemispheric asymmetries for processing duration of non-verbal and verbal sounds were investigated in 60 right-handed subjects. Two dichotic tests with attention directed to one ear were used, one with complex tones and one with consonant-vowel syllables. Stimuli had three possible durations: 350, 500, and 650 ms. Subjects judged whether the duration of a probe was same or different compared to the duration of the target presented before it. Target and probe were part of two dichotic pairs presented with 1 s interstimulus interval and occurred on the same side. Dependent variables were reaction time and accuracy. Results showed a significant right ear advantage for both dependent variables with both complex tones and consonant-vowel syllables. This study provides behavioural evidence of a left hemisphere specialization for duration perception of both musical and speech sounds in line with the current view based on a parameter - rather than domain-specific structuring of hemispheric perceptual asymmetries.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11564/111328
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