Perceptual asymmetry for chimeric stimuli in children with early unilateral brain damage

The present study used a chimeric stimuli task to assess the magnitude of the left-hemispace bias in children with congenital unilateral brain damage (n = 46) as compared to typically developing matched controls (n = 46). As would be expected, controls exhibited a significant left-hemispace bias. In the presence of left hemisphere (LH) damage, the left-hemispace preference was found to be present, but attenuated, whereas right hemisphere (RH) damage resulted in a less lateralized process. Examination of lesion severity revealed that large lesions in the RH were associated with a reversal of the typical left-hemispace bias, while small lesions resulted in a left bias approximating that of controls. In contrast, the left-hemispace preference in children with LH damage was similar across lesion size. We conclude that damage to either hemisphere early in brain development may alter hemispheric preference for processing of nonverbal stimuli, and that at least in the case of RH damage, alteration of the normal perceptual asymmetry may depend on the interaction between lesion side and severity.