STUDY OF FUNCTIONAL LATERALIZATION IN NIGERIAN ADULTS

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to assess the incidence of functional lateralization in Nigerian
adult residing in Maiduguri. A total number of 200 normal and healthy adult individuals were
randomly selected for the study, in which 115 were males and 85 were females. The data was
collected through self – assessment questionnaires, which consist of 14 questions on the tasks
of handedness, 4 tasks on footedness 1 task on ear and 1 task for chewing. The test for
functional lateralization was carried out by chi – square test using SPSS version 18.0 software
(IBM Corporation, USA). The result shows that there is no significant difference for the right
and left sidedness between males and females sexes with P = 0.6894 for right side in males
against right side in female and p = 0.092 for left side in males against left side in females, but
the right sidedness is significantly greater than left sidedness in both males and females sexes
with P<0.0001, in which for the handedness 84% prefer right, 11% prefer left and 5% prefer
both, for footedness 75% prefer right, 17% prefer left and 8% prefer both, for hearing 74%
prefer right, 16% prefer left and 10% prefer both, for chewing 62% prefer right, 17% prefer
left and 21% prefer both. This study finds out that in every population 99% of them may be
right sidedness and 1% of them may be left sidedness, this shows that the left cerebral
hemisphere more dominant than right cerebral hemisphere.