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Hemispheric lateralization during maintenance of verbal and visuospatial working memory
Jingya Huang1, Robin Gerrits2, Lisa Moreel1
1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Laterality
|December 1, 2025
Summary
Verbal working memory (VWM) is left-lateralized, while visuospatial working memory (SWM) shows bilateral brain activity, according to this study using functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD). Individual differences in brain laterality were observed.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Cerebral Blood Flow
Background:
- Hemispheric lateralization of working memory (WM) has been debated, with early studies distinguishing verbal WM (left hemisphere) from visuospatial WM (right hemisphere).
- Later research presented inconsistent findings regarding WM lateralization.
- Functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) provides a portable and cost-effective method to assess brain activity by measuring cerebral blood flow velocity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of material type on hemispheric lateralization in working memory (WM).
- To compare brain activity patterns during verbal working memory (VWM) and visuospatial working memory (SWM) tasks.
- To explore individual differences in brain lateralization during WM tasks.
Main Methods:
- Utilized functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD) to measure blood flow velocity in bilateral middle cerebral arteries.
- Recruited 39 healthy, right-handed volunteers (aged 17-28 years).
- Administered two item-recognition WM tasks: a VWM task with pseudowords and an SWM task with dot locations.
Main Results:
- The VWM task demonstrated significant left-hemisphere lateralization.
- The SWM task exhibited a bilateral pattern of brain activity at the group level.
- Significant individual variability in laterality was observed for the SWM task.
Conclusions:
- Verbal working memory is predominantly lateralized to the left hemisphere.
- Visuospatial working memory engages bilateral brain regions, with substantial individual differences in lateralization.
- fTCD is a viable tool for studying WM lateralization and its material-specific effects.
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