Levine R A, Liederman J, Riley P
Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston 02114.
Neuropsychologia. 1988;26(4):603-14. doi: 10.1016/0028-3932(88)90116-9.
Lateralization of neural function is generally thought to occur only at the level of the cerebral cortex and perhaps the thalamus. Levine and McGaffigan [EEG Clin. Neurophysiol. 55, 532-537, 1983] challenged this view by identifying a neural asymmetry at the level of the brainstem. They analyzed brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) and found that peak III(+) amplitude (baseline-to-peak) was significantly larger in response to right than to left ear stimulation. The current paper demonstrates that this BAEP asymmetry is (a) reliable within and between subjects, (b) present for 33/sec and 10/sec click rates, and (c) more reliable when amplitude is measured peak-to-peak. This brainstem asymmetry may reflect the general tendency of humans to orient rightward and/or may be a precursor of higher level asymmetries.
神经功能的偏侧化通常被认为仅发生在大脑皮层甚至可能是丘脑水平。莱文和麦加菲根[《脑电图与临床神经生理学》55卷，532 - 537页，1983年]通过在脑干水平识别出一种神经不对称现象，对这一观点提出了质疑。他们分析了脑干听觉诱发电位（BAEP），发现对右耳刺激的III（+）峰（基线到峰）振幅显著大于左耳刺激。本文证明这种BAEP不对称现象（a）在个体内部和个体之间是可靠的，（b）在每秒33次和每秒10次的点击频率下都存在，并且（c）当测量峰峰值振幅时更可靠。这种脑干不对称现象可能反映了人类普遍向右定向的倾向和/或可能是更高水平不对称的先兆。
