Asymmetrical Effects of Music upon Spatial-Sequential Learning

Abstract Ninety-six consistently right-handed, male college students solved a tactual maze with either their left or their right hand. Compared with maze learning without music, maze learning was impeded during monaural music when the ear stimulated was ipsilateral to the hand used to run the maze, but maze learning was facilitated when the ear stimulated was contralateral to the hand used. Binaural music affected learning in the same way as left-ear monaural music. We suggest that monaural music presented to the ear ipsilateral to the maze-tracing hand produced intra-hemispheric competition for the attention of the hemisphere controlling that hand and thus impeded learning. Monaural music presented to the ear contralateral to the maze-tracing hand reduced the amount of interhemispheric competition acting on the hemisphere controlling the hand and thus facilitated learning. Binaural music preferentially engaged the right hemisphere and facilitated maze learning when the right hand was used, by reducing in...