Relationship between birth order, birth stress, and lateral preferences: A critical review.

Reviews the literature examining the relationship between birth order, birth stress, and lateral preferences in nonclinical samples, with special emphasis on reports since 1971. The review found no evidence to relate birth order position to deviations from right-sidedness for either sex. More direct measures of birth stress indicated that deviations from right-handedness (particularly for male subjects), and also right-eyedness, were statistically related to specific birth stressors. It should be stressed, however, that all the relationships, including the significant ones, were very weak, accounting for less that 1% of the variance. When statistical significance was achieved, it was largely due to the huge sample sizes used in the meta-analyses. Methodological and theoretical problems exist in the current literature, and we offer some suggestions to resolve them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A review of right hemisphere linguistic capabilities.

Observations made upon clinical populations during the last century have largely been responsible for supplanting the traditional view that the human cerebral hemispheres are structurally and functionally identical. Although today the left hemisphere is viewed as being responsible for most language functioning, in recent years evidence has accumulated that suggests that the right hemisphere also possesses linguistic skills. The present article surveys the available evidence for right hemisphere linguistic capabilities from both clinical and normal populations, including data from handedness, brain damage, hemispherectomy, and commissurotomy studies. (6 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of specific birth stressors on four indexes of lateral preference.

Hand, foot, eye, and ear preferences were measured in 664 female and 575 male individuals for whom birth histories (based on retrospective maternal reports) were available. Significant shifts toward left-sidedness were found in Ss who had been subject to birth stress. Effects were largest in males and appeared to be related to specific forms of birth complications in both sexes. (French abstract) (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

AcidoCEST-UTE MRI Reveals an Acidic Microenvironment in Knee Osteoarthritis

A relationship between an acidic pH in the joints, osteoarthritis (OA), and pain has been previously demonstrated. Acidosis Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (acidoCEST) indirectly measures the extracellular pH through the assessment of the exchange of protons between amide groups on iodinated contrast agents and bulk water. It is possible to estimate the extracellular pH in the osteoarthritic joint using acidoCEST MRI. However, conventional MR sequences cannot image deep layers of cartilage, meniscus, ligaments, and other musculoskeletal tissues that present with short echo time and fast signal decay. Ultrashort echo time (UTE) MRI, on the other hand, has been used successfully to image those joint tissues. Here, our goal is to compare the pH measured in the knee joints of volunteers without OA and patients with severe OA using acidoCEST-UTE MRI. Patients without knee OA and patients with severe OA were examined using acidoCEST-UTE MRI and the mean pH of cartilage, meniscus, and fluid was calculated. Additionally, the relationship between the pH measurements and the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) was investigated. AcidoCEST-UTE MRI can detect significant differences in the pH of knee cartilage, meniscus, and fluid between joints without and with OA, with OA showing lower pH values. In addition, symptoms and knee-joint function become worse at lower pH measurements.     

Erratum to Searleman.

Reports an error in the article "A Review of Right Hemisphere Linguistic Capabilities" by Alan Searleman (Psychological Bulletin, 1977, Vol. 84, No. 3, pp. S03-S28). It is stated that Kohn and Dennis (1974) are convinced of a complete transfer of speech and language to the right hemisphere in left-hemispherectomized infantile hemiplegics. This claim is erroneous in that it overstates the degree of transfer reported by Kohn and Dennis. (The following abstract originally appeared in record 1978-00199-001) Observations made upon clinical populations during the last century have largely been responsible for supplanting the traditional view that the human cerebral hemispheres are structurally and functionally identical. Although today the left hemisphere is viewed as being responsible for most language functioning, in recent years evidence has accumulated that suggests that the right hemisphere also possesses linguistic skills. The present article surveys the available evidence for right hemisphere linguistic capabilities from both clinical and normal populations, including data from handedness, brain damage, hemispherectomy, and commissurotomy studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)