[Relationship between creativity and hemispheric information processing: effect of handedness].

Effect of handedness in creativity-related global and local hemispheric selective processing was examined with lateralized presentation of hierarchical letters. Eighty-four university students (aged 17-22 years) participated in the study. Handedness was determined by Annett questionnaire. Originality of imagery was assessed by a computer-based Torrance 'Incomplete Figures' test. Verbal creativity was assessed by the results of the sentence construction with three nouns belonging to remote semantic categories. The results show that higher figural originality is provided by an increase in both right-hemispheric and interhemispheric interference processes at the global/local or congruent/noncongruent level. Verbal originality is associated with an increase in the right-hemispheric interference between congruent and noncongruent stimuli at the local attention level and with a decrease in interhemispheric interference at the global level. A decrease in the typical preference of the right hand is accompanied by the higher creativity and acceleration of the right-hemispheric interference processes.