THE LATERALIZATION OF LIP-READING - A 2ND LOOK

Photographs of unfamiliar speaking faces were matched by normal right- handed subjects on the basis of perceived mouth-shape (i.e. visible sp eech sound) across different face-views. A clear left-hemisphere (RVF) processing advantage emerged, which was absent when the task was that of identity matching. In contrast to earlier proposals, the extractio n of lip-shape from face photographs may be better managed by left-hem isphere- than right-hemisphere mechanisms even at its initial stages. This may contribute to the observed patterns of dissociations in speec h-reading and in audiovisual speech-processing in neurological patient s. Copyright (C) 1966 Elsevier Science Ltd