Visual half-field experiments are a good measure of cerebral language dominance if used properly: evidence from fMRI

Abstract

Traditional neuropsychology employs visual half-field (VHF) experiments to assess cerebral language dominance. This approach is based on the assumption that left cerebral dominance for language leads to faster and more accurate recognition of words in the right visual half-field (RVF) than in the left visual half-field (LVF) during tachistoscopic presentation. Information in the RVF is directly projected to the left hemisphere, whereas information presented in the LVF needs interhemispheric transfer to reach the left half of the brain. This interpretation of the RVF superiority for word recognition lacks direct evidence however, and a multitude of studies have lead to contradictory findings. To investigate this matter further we try to establish the ideal parameters for VHF experiments to measure language dominance, and subsequently compare laterality indices (LIs) obtained from RT patterns in bilateral VHF tasks to those LIs acquired in the same individuals during a mental word generation task in the fMRI scanner. Our results reveal a direct link between VHF advantages and individual language lateralization. Differences in behavioral performance between left-hemisphere dominant and right-hemisphere dominant individuals suggest that carefully designed VHF tests can be used as a reliable predictor of cerebral language dominance.