Adults' mental rotation of spatial information: Effects of age, sex and cerebral laterality

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Abstract
Mental rotation ability of young (mean age = 25.3 [yr]) and elderly [human] adults (mean age = 65.3 [yr]) was assessed. Preferred cerebral hemisphere for information processing was determined by asking subjects questions designed to elicit lateral eye movements. Subjects were classified as preferring the right hemisphere, the left hemisphere or neither hemisphere (mixed dominance). Participants were then given a task requiring them to match rotated blocks used in the Shepard and Metzler experiment. Young subjects were more accurate than elderly subjects and males were more accurate than females at both age levels. There was no difference in accuracy as a function of preferred hemisphere for information processing. There may be no relationship between preferred hemisphere for processing and accuracy on a mental rotation task. There are age-related changes in the accuracy of mental rotation. Males perform more accurately than females throughout adulthood on mental rotation tasks.