Sensorimotor Coordination

Abstract

There are four major manifestations of lateral preferences in humans. Two, handedness and footedness, deal with limb functions, while the other two, eyedness and earedness, deal with sensory functions. The limbs, of course, are the major effector organs upon which we rely to accomplish the majority of our interactions with the physical environment. The sense organs serve an input function, gathering information from the environment, and coordinating the movements of the limbs relative to the external conditions. This sort of sensorimotor coordination is taken for granted, as exemplified in the Spanish proverb, “What the eyes can see, the hands can grasp.” However, the two hands are not used equally, nor are the two eyes. Thus one might be tempted to wonder whether our ability to grasp is affected by the eye used to guide the movement. More generally, one might ask whether specific patterns of lateral preference interact with sensorimotor abilities.