GENDER INFLUENCE ON NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE FOLLOWING UNILATERAL CEREBRAL-LESIONS

Neuropsychological data from men and women with lateralized cerebral lesions were compared to determine whether evidence of differential cognitive lateralization according to sex could be found. Previous evaluation of IQ data from these same groups failed to support a differential lateralization theory (Herring & Reitan, 1986). Subjects included 48 adults with independent neurological evidence of neoplastic or vascular lesions of the right cerebral hemisphere, 48 adults with evidence of left cerebral hemisphere lesions, and 28 controls. Each group had equal numbers of men and women and were composed for equivalence regarding age, education, lesion site, severity, chronicity, and etiology. Subjects were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests. The results yielded some evidence of female superiority in verbal functioning, but neither sex performed better than the other on any single dependent variable. Results of multivariate and univariate analyses failed to support any Sex x Lesioned Hemisphere interaction. The study also examines whether existing sex differences justify sex specific norms on these measures.