FUNCTIONAL BRAIN ORGANIZATION, HANDEDNESS, AND IMMUNE VULNERABILITY IN MUSICIANS AND NON-MUSICIANS

In the current investigation an approach has been made to explore poss ible relations between musical talent, left-handedness, anomalous domi nance for verbal materials, and immune vulnerability. Fifty-one young adult musicians and non-musicians were tested with Wing's Standardized Tests of Musical Intelligence, with a handedness questionnaire, a dic hotic listening task, and with a questionnaire assessing asthma/allerg ies, migraine and myopia. In addition, IgE, Ig total, beta-endorphin, testosterone, and estradiol were measured in blood serum. Musical tale nt was related to left-handedness and to anomalous dominance; immune v ulnerability was found in female musicians, and in subjects with rever sed dominance for language functions as well as in male left-handers, independently of musical talent.