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Degree

Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MSBS), University of Toledo Health Science Campus, Graduate School, 2004.

Abstract

Within a group of left-handed individuals, some individuals write with an inverted hand posture, where the fingers point back towards the individual. McKeever (2004) has theorized that this inverted posture reflects a unique hemispheric organization for language processing: while non-inverted subjects program writing from the right angular gyrus, inverted left-handers program writing from the left angular gyrus. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to test this hypothesis. Subjects were scanned in 5 min blocks while alternating between two language tasks: speaking and listening, listening and writing, writing and speaking, and the reverse sequence for each of the three groups. The data then was analyzed to determine which angular gyrus is more active during each of the three tasks presented. It was found that inverted subjects did not use either gyrus more than the other, while the non-inverted subjects primarily used the left angular gyrus.

Keywords

handedness; angular gyrus; FMRI

Advisor

Michael J. Dennis, Ph.D

Pages

62p.

Document number: mco1096298665
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=mco1096298665

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