Biomaterial Database

Functional lateralization of the perception of Norwegian word tones--evidence from a dichotic listening experiment. 1993

I Moen

Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, University of Oslo, Norway.

The present paper addresses the question of the functional lateralization of the ability to perceive the tonal distinctions in tone languages. Dichotic listening experiments and investigations of the brain-damaged population have indicated that the left hemisphere is more active than the right in the perception of tone in East Asian tone languages like Mandarin Chinese and Thai. Two dichotic listening experiments involving speakers of Norwegian, a language with an opposition of two tones, have demonstrated a right-ear superiority in the perception of the tonal distinction, indicating left-hemisphere lateralization of the ability to perceive tonal distinctions in Norwegian as well as in the East Asian tone languages that have been previously investigated.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007802	Language	A verbal or nonverbal means of communicating ideas or feelings.	Dialect,Dialects,Languages
D007839	Functional Laterality	Behavioral manifestations of cerebral dominance in which there is preferential use and superior functioning of either the left or the right side, as in the preferred use of the right hand or right foot.	Ambidexterity,Behavioral Laterality,Handedness,Laterality of Motor Control,Mirror Writing,Laterality, Behavioral,Laterality, Functional,Mirror Writings,Motor Control Laterality,Writing, Mirror,Writings, Mirror
D008297	Male		Males
D009664	Norway	A country located in northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden. The capital is Oslo.	Kingdom of Norway
D010700	Phonetics	The science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)	Speech Sounds,Sound, Speech,Sounds, Speech,Speech Sound
D010898	Pitch Perception	A dimension of auditory sensation varying with cycles per second of the sound stimulus.	Perception, Pitch,Perceptions, Pitch,Pitch Perceptions
D001921	Brain	The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.	Encephalon
D004007	Dichotic Listening Tests	Tests for central hearing disorders based on the competing message technique (binaural separation).	Dichotic Listening Test,Listening Test, Dichotic,Listening Tests, Dichotic,Test, Dichotic Listening,Tests, Dichotic Listening
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man