TY - JOUR
T1 - Reaction time differences between left- and right-handers during mental rotation of hand pictures
AU - Takeda, Kotaro
AU - Shimoda, Nobuaki
AU - Sato, Yutaka
AU - Ogano, Misao
AU - Kato, Hiroyuki
N1 - Funding Information:
Address correspondence to: Hiroyuki Kato, MD, PhD, Department of Neurology, International University of Health and Welfare Hospital, 537-3 Iguchi, Nasushiobara, Tochigi 329-2763, Japan. E-mail: [email protected] The first and second authors contributed equally to this research. This study was supported by CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency.
PY - 2010/7
Y1 - 2010/7
N2 - During mental rotation tasks using hand pictures, right-handers make left-right judgements by mentally rotating their own hand to an orientation of the presented hand image. Although strategy difference for the tasks between left- and right-handers has been suggested, the strategy of left-handers has been incompletely understood. In the present study we compared differences in reaction times between 15 left-handed and 16 right-handed normal individuals during a mental rotation task using simple hand pictures. Participants were required to identify pictures of a hand presented in four orientations (upright, counterclockwise rotated, clockwise rotated, and inverted) as either a right or a left hand. Right-handers recognised a right hand faster than a left hand, whereas no significant difference was seen for left-handers. Both left- and right-handers recognised a right hand faster than a left hand in counterclockwise-rotated images, and recognised a left hand faster than a right hand in clockwise-rotated images. The findings suggest that the differences in the reaction times between left- and right-handers depend on a laterality balance of hand motor skills. During mental rotation task using simple hand pictures, left-handers may mentally simulate their own hand to match the stimulus image as similar to right-handers.
AB - During mental rotation tasks using hand pictures, right-handers make left-right judgements by mentally rotating their own hand to an orientation of the presented hand image. Although strategy difference for the tasks between left- and right-handers has been suggested, the strategy of left-handers has been incompletely understood. In the present study we compared differences in reaction times between 15 left-handed and 16 right-handed normal individuals during a mental rotation task using simple hand pictures. Participants were required to identify pictures of a hand presented in four orientations (upright, counterclockwise rotated, clockwise rotated, and inverted) as either a right or a left hand. Right-handers recognised a right hand faster than a left hand, whereas no significant difference was seen for left-handers. Both left- and right-handers recognised a right hand faster than a left hand in counterclockwise-rotated images, and recognised a left hand faster than a right hand in clockwise-rotated images. The findings suggest that the differences in the reaction times between left- and right-handers depend on a laterality balance of hand motor skills. During mental rotation task using simple hand pictures, left-handers may mentally simulate their own hand to match the stimulus image as similar to right-handers.
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U2 - 10.1080/13576500902938105
DO - 10.1080/13576500902938105
M3 - Article
C2 - 19484654
AN - SCOPUS:77954106305
SN - 1357-650X
VL - 15
SP - 415
EP - 425
JO - Laterality
JF - Laterality
IS - 4
ER -