Functional cerebral lateralization and interhemispheric interaction in patients with callosal agenesis.

Objective: The corpus callosum (CC), the largest commissure in the human brain, is thought to play an essential part in the formation and maintenance of lateralized cognitive and motor functions. In particular, it has been suggested that inhibition of the subdominant hemisphere via commissural fiber tracts plays a crucial role for functional lateralization. However, many studies supporting this idea have either been conducted in nonhuman model species or used indirect measures of callosal functioning.

The type of implicit motive enactment is modulated by sex hormones in naturally cycling women.

Sex hormones have been reported to dynamically modulate the expression of implicit motives, a concept that has previously been thought to be relatively stable over time. This study investigates to what extent the need for affiliation, power, and achievement, as well as the form of enactment of these needs as measured with the Operant Motive Test (OMT), is affected by cycle-phase dependent sex hormone fluctuations. In addition to measuring the strength of motive expression, the OMT also captures different forms of motive enactment.

Multisensory integration across the menstrual cycle.

Evidence suggests that spatial processing changes across time in naturally cycling women, which is likely due to neuromodulatory effects of steroid hormones. Yet, it is unknown whether crossmodal spatial processes depend on steroid hormones as well. In the present experiment, the crossmodal congruency task was used to assess visuo-tactile interactions in naturally cycling women, women using hormonal contraceptives and men.

Variability in ratings of trustworthiness across the menstrual cycle.

This study investigated how trusting behavior varies in naturally cycling women, as a function of sex and attractiveness of players in a trust game, at three distinct phases of the menstrual cycle. Women acted more cautiously in an investment game at the preovulatory phase, compared to the menstrual and the mid-luteal phase. Reduced willingness to trust in strangers was particularly expressed toward male players at this time.

Visuotactile interactions in the congenitally acallosal brain: evidence for early cerebral plasticity.

Studies in patients with an isolated, congenital agenesis of the corpus callosum have documented potentials and limits of brain plasticity. Literature suggests that early reorganization mechanisms can compensate for the absence of the corpus callosum in unisensory tasks that involve interhemispheric transfer. It is unknown, however, how the congenitally acallosal brain processes multisensory information, which presumably requires interhemispheric transfer of modality-specific input.

Sex differences in parking are affected by biological and social factors.

The stereotype of women's limited parking skills is deeply anchored in modern culture. Although laboratory tests prove men's average superiority in visuospatial tasks and parking requires complex, spatial skills, underlying mechanisms remain unexplored. Here, we investigated performance of beginners (nine women, eight men) and more experienced drivers (21 women, 27 men) at different parking manoeuvres.