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Sex differences in hemispheric lateralization of attentional networks

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Abstract

Males and females differ in various abilities. However, sex differences in hemispheric lateralization of attentional processing are still not well-understood. Using a lateralized version of the attentional network test that combines the Posner cueing paradigm and visual field methodology, we aimed to examine sex differences in the lateralization of several attentional processes including alerting, executive control, orienting benefit, reorienting, and orienting cost. Fifty-six females and 59 males participated in this study. We found a left visual field (right hemisphere) advantage for alerting defined by the differences between no-cue and center-cue conditions in the male group, but it was mainly attributed to the left visual field advantage in the no-cue condition. In contrast, the female group exhibited a left visual field advantage in the center-cue condition. Both groups showed preferences to the left visual field for reorienting and orienting cost, but females exhibited larger effects. This indicates that the two sexes exhibit similarities in terms of the lateralization of these two attentional processes. Furthermore, the interactions between executive control and reorienting/orienting cost were more efficient in males than in females. The current study highlights sex differences in the hemispheric lateralization of attentional networks and possible underlying neural substrates.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers and Shen-Mou Hsu for their constructive comments. Y.L. was supported by the Humanities and Social Sciences Fund of Ministry of Education of China (20YJCZH079). Y.L. and H.D.R. were supported by the BNU-HKBU United International College External Research Grant (R6014) and Internal Research Grants (R202011, R201710). G.W.H was supported by the BNU-HKBU United International College Research Grant (R5201814). L.Z. was supported by Social Science Fund of Beijing (17YYA004).

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  1. Division of Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC), 2000 Jintong Road, Zhuhai, 519087, Guangdong, China

    Yu Li, Sabrina Yanan Jiang, Huada Daniel Ruan & Ghee Wee Ho

  2. Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Yu Li

  3. College of Education, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, Shandong, China

    Yuanyuan Wang & Dun Niu

  4. Student Affairs Office, Wuhan Polytechnic College, Wuhan, Hubei, China

    Xiaohong Jin

  5. Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Language Resources and College of Advanced Chinese Training, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China

    Linjun Zhang

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Li, Y., Wang, Y., Jin, X. et al. Sex differences in hemispheric lateralization of attentional networks. Psychological Research 85, 2697–2709 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-020-01423-z

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