Cerebral Laterality for PC Keyboard Writing

Does writing using a PC keyboard compared to pen-and-paper result in the same cerebral laterality pattern? Is there a difference between right-handers and left-handers?

In this study, we aim to investigate, for the first time in the literature, cerebral laterality for writing using a typing task (typing in a PC keyboard) versus a handwriting, paper-and-pencil, task. Although handwriting is a primary goal of education, everyday writing is performed mainly by typing. Moreover, the fact that typing makes use of both hands, will remove the one-sided motor component that results in contralateral (i.e., opposite) hemispheric activation and will allow for language-specific activations during writing to be more reliably assessed.

We have submitted the Stage II registered report titled “Cerebral lateralization during handwritten and typed word generation: A functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound study in left- and right-handers.” in the scientific journal “European Journal of Neuroscience”. The data for our study is available in its entirety in OSF.