Bilateral Tachistoscopic Word Perception in Aphasic and Normal Subjects

The present investigation examined the role of the right cerebral hemisphere in linguistic perception following left cerebral insult which had resulted in aphasia. Bilateral tachistoscopic procedures, employing a central fixation mark, were utilized to investigate the visual half-field preferences of 30 aphasic Ss, grouped relative to the amount of time since the onset of left cerebral insult, and a group of 10 normal, control Ss. Statistical analyses indicated a significant left visual half-field preference for the aphasic Ss. In contrast, a significant right visual half-field preference was revealed for the normal, control group. Results did not show a simple decrement in recognition scores of the aphasic Ss but rather a shift in visual-field preference relative to the normal Ss' preference.