B3650 - LATERALCOG - Typical and atypical development of laterality - 09/11/2020
The scientific literature provides several elements in favor of the existence of a link 1. between the fetal position at the end of gestation and the development of laterality, on the one hand; 2.between the type of fetal positioning (cephalic vs. breech) and developmental disorders of laterality and interhemispheric communications involved in cognitive functioning, on the other hand (cf. for review Güntürkün, & Ocklenburg, 2017 ). However, a lack of consensus remains today as to the nature of the relationship between the lateralization degree and cognitive development. Some theoretical positions consider that cognitive deficits are noted in individuals whose laterality is weakly established, in other words ambidextrous, while others consider ambilaterality as an advantage both in terms of language and visuospatial abilities (Boles & Barth , 2011; Chiarello, Welcome, Halderman, & Leonard, 2009; Johnston, Nicholls, Shah, & Shields, 2009). Innovatively, we suggest that this lack of consensus could be attributed to the existence of two distinct causes of ambidexterity with different developmental consequences.