Perceptual lateralization on the Rod-and-Frame Test in young and older adults

INTRODUCTION: There is an overall left visual field/right hemisphere advantage in young adults for masked, tachistoscopically presented images on the Rod-and-Frame Test (RFT). This study explored potential age-related lateralization differences in processing of visual context on the RFT. METHODS: The 35 young and 33 older adults aligned a rod surrounded either by no frame, a vertical, or leftward/rightward tilted frame to their perceived vertical. Algebraic errors of rod alignment were used to derive the rod-and-frame effect (RFE) and asymmetry index. RESULTS: Young adults had frequent indirect effects, mostly to the right-tilted frame, while older adults hardly produced any. Compared with nontilted frames, young adults displayed larger alignment errors with left-tilted frames; however, older adults exhibited this same effect for both frame tilt conditions. Young adults had smaller RFE values than older adults for the right-tilted frame, with no age-related difference in RFE for the left-tilted frame or asymmetry index. The negative asymmetry index was statistically different from the true vertical only in young adults. CONCLUSION: There is an age-related reduction in the right hemisphere processing of left-sided visual contexts on the RFT. Such findings can assist clinicians to improve interpretation of RFT findings in clinical patients.