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Neuropediatrics 1984; 15(3): 139-144
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1052357
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Developmental Changes in Dichotic Right Ear Advantage (REA)

P.  Pohl , H. -G. Grubmüller , R.  Grubmüller
  • Institute of Social Pediatrics and Youth Medicine, University of Munich, Munich, F. R. G.
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Publication History

Publication Date:
19 March 2008 (online)

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Abstract

A cross-sectional, dichotic listening study of 210 righthanded, middle-class children four to ten years old used thirty pairs of one-syllable words and thirty pairs of four-syllable numbers to assess the developmental course of ear asymmetry. A significant decrease in REA for both word and number pairs was found. Although right-ear and left-ear performance both increased with age, the developmental gain in left-ear performance was greater than the gain in right-ear performance, thus resulting in a decrease in REA with age. The results are discussed with respect to investigations which found no change in REA during development and a structural model based on the development of interhemispheric connectivity is proposed to explain the findings.

Key words

Ear asymmetry - Speech perception - Hemispheric specialization