Left hemisphere dominance for rhythmic elements in dichotically-presented melodies.

Right ear superiority was found for two groups of 24 subjects on a dichotic listening test of melodies each differing only in rhythm. In addition, no ear difference was found in the same two groups for a dichotic melodies test differing only in pitch or pitch pattern. Finally, the usual left ear superiority was seen for dichotic presentation of chords and the usual right ear superiority was seen for the dichotic presentation of digits. The results imply that in neither of the non-verbal (melodies) tests was the right hemisphere superior to the left. In fact for one test the reverse was true: the left hemisphere was superior to the right for melody recognition based on a rhythm cue. The apparent conflict between this and previous studies is explained by the notion that it is not the stimuli per se that govern hemispheric dominance, but rather the cognitive functioning required by the left and right hemispheres in order to process them.