Walking trajectory by gender and reference frame is all-right

Abstract

Each hemisphere of the brain has specialized functions. The right hemisphere is dominant for spatial processing in most people, and also processes the left field of vision. It is believed that these lateralized functions underlie the left visual field bias frequently observed on visuospatial tasks, wherein individuals appear to overattend the left side of space and slightly neglect the right. These lateralized functions are also thought to underlie the rightward collision bias frequently reported on laboratory navigation tasks, which would also necessarily entail a rightward walking trajectory. The present study used a naturalistic observational design to determine if walking behaviours in the real world demonstrate a rightward bias. Further, because differences in hemispheric function are more pronounced in men than women, perceived gender was also examined. Observations were made for both absolute walking side within a hall (allocentric reference frame) and passing side relative to another person (egocentric reference frame). Strict rightward biases were found independent of condition and perceived gender. These natural walking pattern findings are consistent with the rightward bias frequently reported on laboratory collision tasks, but are not consistent with findings on other laterality tasks in which women demonstrate smaller biases than men. This study is part of a larger international collaboration exploring the role that a country’s driving side may have in impacting natural walking biases and biases observed in laboratory collision and other visuospatial tasks.