Left ear (right temporal hemisphere) advantage and left temporal hemispheric dysfunction in schizophrenia

In this study, to investigate the right or left ear advantages in psychiatr ic patients, the durations of hearing for right and left ears were assessed in 61 psychiatric patients, 26 with schizophrenia, 17 with depressive diso rder, 13 with bipolar affective disorder, and 5 with brief psychotic disord er, plus 24 controls. Diagnoses were made on the basis of information provi ded from clinical interviews and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM- TV (SCID). Schizophrenia was associated with a left ear advantage, and both depressive disorder and brief psychotic disorder were associated with righ t ear advantage as well as controls, These results suggest that their schiz ophrenia may be associated with a left temporal lobe dysfunction.