Eye-sighting preference of normal and hemiplegic children and adults

Monocular eye-sighting preference was examined in 32 children with hemiplegia, 51 adult-onset hemiplegic patients and 57 normal children and adults. Eye preference was compared with ear preference on dichotic listening for 25 of the hemiplegic children. No independent association could be detected between eye preference and ear preference. In both the children and adults with hemiplegia the preferred eye tended to be on the same side as the damaged hemisphere. Among the adults, this tendency was more pronounced with more extensive lesions, as manifested by aphasia and/or hemianopia. These findings are interpreted as indicating that eye-sighting preference is unrelated to unitary hemispheric dominance, and that, unlike dominance for hearing and speech, it is not irreversible after a critical period of development. A simpler explanation than incomplete hemispheric dominance is offered for the weakly positive association between mixed laterality and cerebral dysfunction.