School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Brunel University, London, UK.
Br J Health Psychol. 2010 Sep;15(Pt 3):469-77. doi: 10.1348/135910709X471391. Epub 2009 Sep 18.
Past studies demonstrate relationships between hemispheric lateralization (HL) and immunity. However, the relevance of HL-immune relationships to health and illness has rarely been investigated. This study tested whether a neuropsychological index of right-hemispheric lateralization (right-HL) predicts development of upper respiratory tract infectious (URTI) symptoms.
We used a prospective, matched, case-control design.
Initially, 80 URTI symptom free adults underwent neuropsychological assessment including right-HL (picture vs. word recognition), and were then followed-up during 10 weeks for development of URTI symptoms and objective signs of URTI. Participants reporting URTI symptoms (Ill; N=21) were matched on age, gender, and IQ with 21 participants remaining well.
At baseline, the right-HL index was significantly higher in participants who later became ill (9.9%) compared to well participants (3.9%, p<.05). Health behaviour also predicted URTI symptoms. In a logistic regression, right-HL significantly predicted self-reported URTI, independent of health behaviour and neuroticism.
Greater right-HL predicted URTI symptom development during follow-up, independent of important confounders. These findings expand previous HL-immune relationships to a common immune-related illness.
过去的研究表明大脑半球侧化（HL）与免疫之间存在关系。然而，HL 与免疫的关系与健康和疾病的相关性很少被研究。本研究测试了右半球侧化（右 HL）的神经心理学指标是否可以预测上呼吸道感染（URTI）症状的发展。
我们使用了前瞻性、匹配、病例对照设计。
最初，80 名无 URTI 症状的成年人接受了神经心理学评估，包括右 HL（图片与文字识别），然后在 10 周内随访 URTI 症状和 URTI 的客观体征。报告 URTI 症状的参与者（患病组；N=21）按年龄、性别和智商与 21 名健康参与者相匹配。
在基线时，后来患病的参与者的右 HL 指数（9.9%）明显高于健康参与者（3.9%，p<.05）。健康行为也预测了 URTI 症状。在逻辑回归中，右 HL 独立于健康行为和神经质，显著预测了自我报告的 URTI。
在随访期间，较高的右 HL 预测了 URTI 症状的发展，独立于重要的混杂因素。这些发现将以前的 HL-免疫关系扩展到常见的免疫相关疾病。
