Relationship between Hemispheric Preference Score and Academic Performance among Preclinical Medical Students Studying Medicine and Dentistry

BACKGROUND: Understanding the style of learning and thinking (SOLAT) of the students is necessary to keep students actively involved in learning, which could influence the academic performance of the students. AIM: The objective of this study was to compare the right and left hemisphere preferences for processing information with academic performance of medical students in both theory and practical exams. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The hemispheric preference score for learning and thinking style among first year MBBS (95) and BDS (42) students was determined by SOLAT tool prepared by Dr. V. Venkataraman (1994). A comparison of the hemispheric score between high achievers and low achievers in theory and practical exams was performed by using the unpaired Student’s t-test and Mann–Whitney U-test. RESULTS: The mean hemispheric scores for the right hemisphere, left hemisphere, and whole brain were 26.51, 14.5, and 6.76, respectively. High achievers in theory exam and practical exam received a higher left-hemispheric score and whole-brain score than low achievers; the difference in the mean value of hemispheric score was statistically not significant. CONCLUSION: There was no statistically significant relationship between academic achievement and hemispheric preference scores.