Preschoolers' mental rotation of letters: Sex differences in hemispheric asymmetry

Abstract

Adults' mental rotation performance has been found to produce one of the largest sex differences in cognition accompanied by sex differences in functional cerebral asymmetry. In this study sex differences in mental rotation of letters were investigated with children as young as five years. Based on the electrophysiological brain correlates of mental rotation, we observed a bilateral brain activity for preschool girls whereas the preschool boys' brain activity was clearly lateralized towards the right hemisphere if and only if mental rotation was needed to solve the task. At the same time, we did not find any sex differences in mental rotation speed or accuracy. Thus, sex differences in functional hemispheric asymmetry during mental rotation do not require hormonal changes that occur during puberty.