A reinterpretation of findings on hemispheric dysfunction in schizophrenia

The results of an earlier study on dichotic listening in schizophrenic patients (J. Nerv. Ment. Dis., 164: 247-252, 1977) were recently reinterpreted by one of the authors (J. Nerv. Ment. Dis., 168: 241-242, 1980). The reinterpretation was based on new evidence suggesting that schizophrenia is associated with an overactive and dysfunctional left cerebral hemisphere. The present paper points out an apparent contradiction in the earlier findings and subsequent research, and offers an alternative reinterpretation which seems to provide a more parsimonious explanation for the results. The alternative reinterpretation is based on the hypotheses of faulty interhemispheric transfer in schizophrenia.