Lateralized Head Turning Bias in Humans – Cues to the Development of Human Cerebral Asymmetries

• Main Author: Petzold, Antje
• Other Authors: Universität Osnabrück, Institute of Cognitive Science
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden 2009
• Subjects: Cerebral Asymmetries; Psychology; Neuroscience; Handedness; Cerebrale Asymmetrien; Neurowissenschaften; Händigkeit; ddc:610; rvk:CZ 1300
• Online Access: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-24971; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-24971; http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/2497/BachelorsThesisAntjePetzold.pdf

The origin and development of human cerebral asymmetries is yet a debated issue. One prominent manifestation of cerebral asymmetry is handedness with humans showing a dextral population bias. Handedness in humans is not fully established before the age of six. However, head turning preference in newborns is thought to be an important factor in the development of later handedness. If this head turning preference did not disappear completely during development but would prevail into adulthood it might, thus, be associated with handedness. Therefore, this study aimed to assess head turning preference in adults and to relate a possibly emerging bias to handedness. Forty-two adults (6 females, aged 23- 63, mean age = 35) participated in the study. Head turning preference was assessed by means of a move during Ju Jutsu martial arts training, which requires the trainee to move the head to either left or right. The direction of head movement is not specified for this move, leaving the choice to the trainee. Handedness was measured by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Results did not reveal a profound head turning bias in adults. Contrary to the dextral bias in handedness, in this study a leftward bias in head turning emerged from those participants who showed a head turning preference. Head turning bias did not depend on handedness. The finding of a nearly absent and predominantly leftward head turning bias in this sample is discussed in the context of the Ju Jutsu task, training experience and trainer bias. It is concluded that the Ju Jutsu move is not a sufficient task to assess head turning preference in humans. Thus, to further illuminate the relation between head turning preference and handedness, studies are needed which assess head turning preference in adults in an un-trainable and unbiased situation.