Famous personal names and the right hemisphere: the link keeps missing

Authors: Schweinberger S.R.; Kaufmann J.M.; McColl A.

Source: Brain and Language, Volume 82, Number 1, July 2002 , pp. 95-110(16)

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Abstract:

In this reply to the comment byVanLancker and Ohnesorge (2002), we present the case that current evidence supports the role of left hemisphere in the recognition of famous personal names. We argue that this conclusion is in line not only with the results of Schweinberger, Landgrebe, Mohr, and Kaufmann (2002), but also with the evidence from methods other than divided visual field studies (e.g., PET and ERP studies). We show that our view is also supported by a new set of experiments that address a major concern raised by VanLancker and Ohnesorge in their comment and discuss why the evidence they present does not provide conclusive support to their right hemisphere hypothesis. One of the several possible reasons for this failure is that famous name stimuli may be less suitable than personally familiar stimuli to elicit personally relevant, affective aspects of recognition.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2002-07-01