The pattern of intra-/inter-hemispheric interactions of left and right hemispheres in visual word processing

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the intra-/inter-hemispheric interactions during visual word processing, by manipulating stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) in a primed-lateralized lexical decision task. To assess intra-/inter-hemispheric priming effects, identical prime-target pairs were presented in the same or opposite unilateral visual fields. The study found that the right visual field advantage (RVFA) was observed when Korean words were presented sequentially within hemispheres, indicating that the inherent characteristics of the two hemispheres, rather than differences in memory or linguistic aspects of lexical processing, contributed to the hemispheric asymmetry. Additionally, intra-hemispheric priming effects were symmetrical in both hemispheres, with similar increases in priming for words and nonwords from SOA 120 ms to SOA 600 ms. Furthermore, inter-hemispheric priming effects were asymmetrical, with stronger priming when stimuli were presented in a sequence of LH→RH than in RH→LH. These findings suggest that the intrinsic differences in lexical processing between the two hemispheres may be related to the asymmetric pattern of hemispheric interactions in visual word processing.