A left hemisphere temporal processing advantage for auditory and tactile stimuli

Hemispheric asymmetries for detection of brief interruptions in auditory and tactile stimuli were investigated in two groups of nonclinical dextrals. Short bursts of white noise or vibrations were delivered unilaterally to the ears or hands. Half of the stimuli contained a gap lasting between 2 and 18 ms. Participants indicated whether the stimulus contained a gap or not. The fight ear/hand was associated with fewer errors and faster responses. There was a higher number of 'no-gap' responses for the left ear/hand. These results demonstrate that the left hemisphere is more able to detect the temporal structure of auditory and tactile stimuli than the right hemisphere.