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PubMed1987

Skull asymmetry and handedness in adults: a possibility of their association with lateral head turning in infancy.

During the first two to three months after delivery infants when placed in the supine position commonly turn their heads laterally. This posture has been linked to the intrauterine orientation of the fetus. Skulls of adults were expected to bear a mark of this predominant head position in the form of occipital flattening. A blind examination of computerized axial tomography (CT) scans of 35 normal subjects assessed for handedness (20 right- and 15 mixed-handers) confirmed this prediction for the latter group only. Mixed-handers showed a slight, but reliable flattening of the right occiput. Also, there was a small but significant inverse association between the size of the petrous ridge and handedness. Examining subtle variations in skull shape of adults may provide a glimpse into some aspects of pre- and early postnatal development.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Handedness affects emotional valence asymmetry.

Music was played monaurally to 80 right-handed and 80 left-handed subjects. Right-handers reported more positive and less negative effect if the music was to the right ear. Left-handers reported experiencing more positive and less negative effect during music to the left ear. The hand x ear interaction was significant. The valence of emotional responses to the music seems influenced by a combination of at least two factors, (1) differences between left- and right-handers in the cerebral processing of emotional valence and (2) differences in the processing of emotional valence within each handedness group depending upon which hemisphere was initially most strongly engaged by the music. These results partially corroborate and extend stimuli were presented tachistoscopically or dichotically. It is concluded that, while there is hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of emotional valence, the direction of the asymmetry may be associated with the handedness of the subjects.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1989

Left-handedness and life expectancy.

Halpern and Coren recently described an association between left-handedness and a lower life expectancy. This finding is not unexpected because left-handedness has been linked to three leading causes of death in our society--alcoholism, smoking, and breast cancer--as well as to several neurological and immune disorders.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1993

Handedness and accidents with injury.

As evidence for the hypothesis on the claim of reduced longevity for left-handers, Coren in 1989 reported data which suggested that left-handers were 1.89 times more likely to report injuries which required medical attention. This left-handed group included both left- and mixed-handed individuals. To clarify the results of his study, we repeated in part Coren's study but defined handedness so that groups of right-, mixed-, and left-handed individuals were considered. In contrast to Coren's data, we found that right- and left-handers did not differ significantly in the frequency with which they reported having experienced accidents with injury and that mixed-handers reported being significantly more likely to have had an injury-accident than either right- or left-handers. These data underscore the need to consider mixed-handedness as a separate group in studies of this type.

Accident Proneness↗
PubMed1994

Handedness and dyslexia: a meta-analysis.

The question whether there is an association between handedness and dyslexia has been investigated in many studies spanning more than 50 years. In 1990, Bishop reviewed studies which met stringent methodological criteria and concluded that there was little support for an association. A reanalysis of the same studies using newer procedures of meta-analysis shows that there is a small but reliable increase in the proportion of nonright-handers among dyslexics as expected by the right-shift theory of handedness of Annett.

Child↗
PubMed1998

Handedness and stress-related health problems.

Response of groups of 163 right-, 22 mixed-, and 20 left-handed university students to the seven symptom subscales of a 48-item Stress-related Health Problems Scale were used to test the hypothesis that left-handedness is associated with an increased risk of stress-related health problems. Since only one of the 21 possible statistical tests computed barely reached statistical significance, there is no meaningful relationship between handedness and stress-related health problems.

Functional Laterality↗
PubMed1998

Signs of latent handedness in families.

Luria argued that several behaviors suggested a "latent" handedness. He suggested that such things as the way in which one crossed one's arms or clasped one's hands might reflect a latent preference for the left hand. Arm-folding refers to the preferential tendency for individuals to fold one forearm over the other, whereas hand-clasping refers to the preferential tendency for individuals to clasp the hands together. We investigated hand-clasping and arm-folding in 292 families (mother, father, and offspring). In this study about 55% of the population are left-hand-claspers, 44% are right-hand-claspers, and the remaining 1% report that they have no preference or are indifferent. About 54% of the population are left-arm-folders, 42% are right-arm-folders, and the remaining 4% report that they have no preference or are indifferent. Familial data suggest that hand-clasping and arm-folding may be under genetic control: although the data do not fit any straightforward recessive or dominant Mendelian model, they are compatible with the type of model invoking fluctuating asymmetry which has been used to explain the inheritance of handedness. It is possible that hand-clasping and arm-folding as well as leg-crossing may be idiosyncrasies due to or influenced by physical bilateral differences in the hands or arms. All family data including others and mine together (arithmetical sum) suggest a genetic contribution, although environmental influences are also evident.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

A developmental study of handedness in Down syndrome pupils.

Assessed hand preference in 7- to 9-yr.-old and 13- to 15-yr.-old pupils with Down syndrome (n = 41) was compared with control schoolchildren (n = 50) of the same ages. A significant increase in left-handedness and mixed-handedness was noted in Down syndrome groups compared with the normal population. Younger Down syndrome pupils were less consistent in their hand preference than the older pupils and the normal controls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Handedness and writing performance.

The present study investigated possible differences in left- and right-handers' writing performance. An equal number of left- and right-handed Greek children (N = 182) ages 7 to 12 years were examined using the Greek adaptation of Luria-Nebraska's neuropsychological battery in spontaneous writing, copying, and writing to dictation. Analysis showed a significant effect of age in writing performance and writing speed, while handedness was not significantly related to writing performance or writing speed. However, the incidence of right-handers was slightly higher among proficient writers, whereas the left-handers were clearly overrepresented among poor writers. The results are discussed on the grounds of neuropathological as well as hormonal-developmental theories of handedness.

Child↗
PubMed2004

Handedness differences in widths of right and left craniofacial regions in healthy young adults.

In this work, handedness differences in the widths of right and left craniofacial regions were studied in a healthy sample of 39 male and 43 female students, 17 to 23 years old. Width of craniofacial regions was assessed by computerized tomography. Handedness was associated with the left face width especially for women. The left facial region was larger for right-handers than left-handers. The smaller measure for the left face of left-handers might be associated with an advantage of left ear sensitivity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

The interaction of handedness, familial sinistrality and sex on the performance of a dichotic listening task.

The contributions of handedness, familial sinistrality and sex to laterality effects on a dichotic listening task were examined. Left-handers exhibited left ear advantages, and right-handers showed right ear advantages in auditory asymmetry. These results varied with the sex and familial sinistrality of the subjects. Contradictions in the literature are discussed and are shown to occur most often when the subjects are left-handed or have a family history of left-handedness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Handedness and imbalance lateralization on the Tapping Test in MBD children.

Twenty MBD children and thirty-eight normal control children were tested for handedness and for lateralization on a Finger Tapping Test. The frequency of nonright handedness in normal children was 16%, whereas it was 60% in MBD children. The significance of this difference was discussed. The "imbalance" hypothesis in regard to the Tapping Test was examined. The hypothesis that "extreme" laterality is more in MBD children than controls was not supported in this study.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Reaction time to word meaning and ink color of laterally-presented stroop stimuli: effects of handedness and sex.

In two experiments, subjects pressed a key labeled Red or Green in response to a 100 msec duration stimulus presented to the left or right visual field. In Experiment I, subjects responded to the meaning of Stroop words; the stimulus was the word Red or Green printed in red, green, or white ink. In Experiment II, subjects responded to ink color; the stimulus was either the word Red or Green printed in red or green ink or a red or green color patch. In each experiment, there were 20 strongly right-handed subjects and 20 strongly left-handed subjects. Half the subjects in each handedness group were male and half were female. In both experiments, RT was faster when words were presented to the right visual field than to the left visual field, suggesting that both meaning and ink color of Stroop words were processed more quickly in the left hemisphere. Results of both experiments revealed faster reactions when meaning and ink color of the Stroop words were congruent than when they were not. A comparison with baseline trials indicated that the RT difference between responses to congruent and incongruent Stroop words was due to the incongruent cue interfering with information processing rather than to the congruent cue facilitating processing. Hypothesized interactions between stimulus position, congruence, handedness and sex were not significant.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

The distribution of the Geschwind scores to familial left-handedness.

The principal objective of this work was to study the influence of the familial sinistrality (FS) on the distribution of the hand preference in males and females. The hand preference was assessed by the Oldfield's questionaire. The distributions of the Geschwind scores were compared in the subjects without and with FS. The strong right-handedness was reduced; the strong left-handedness was accentuated under the influence of FS. This left shift in the hand preference presumably inherited by a left shift factor was more pronounced in males than females. It was tentatively suggested that the subjects with FS might be better in mathematics than the subjects with no FS.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Nonverbal intelligence, familial sinistrality and left-handedness.

The interrelations among Geschwind scores, familial sinistrality, and nonverbal intelligence were studies in left-handed males and females. Nonverbal intelligence (spatial reasoning) was assessed by Cattle's Culture Fair Intelligence Test. Hand preference was assessed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, and a laterality score (Geschwind score) was calculated for each subject. The mental ability for spatial reasoning was found to be related to the degree of the left-hand preference in conjunction with familial sinistrality. Moderate left-handedness was found to be advantageous for nonverbal intelligence. It was concluded that cognitive and motor functions are interrelated systems; the efficiency of the spatial reasoning would depend on the degree and developmental level of cerebral lateralization.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The H-reflex recovery curve from the wrist flexors: lateralization of motoneuronal excitability in relation to handedness in normal subjects.

Spinal motor asymmetry was studied in relation to handedness. Hand preference was assessed by Oldfield's Questionnaire and Geschwind scores. hand skill was evaluated by a peg moving task. The motoneuronal excitability was assessed by the size and recovery curve of the H-reflex elicited by stimulation of the right and left median nerves. H-reflex was recorded by cup electrodes placed over the wrist flexors. The mean reflex latencies from the right and left sides were 23.4 and 23.2 ms, respectively. The mean amplitude of the maximum H reflex was significantly higher on the right side than the left side in right-handers without familial sinistrality (FS). There were no significant side differences in the amplitudes of H-reflexes of the right-handers with FS. A genetic factor was suggested to involve this left shift of spinal motor lateralization in right-handers with FS. The recovery curve studies showed that the motoneuronal excitability was higher on the right than the left in right-handers without FS. There was no excitability difference between the right and left sides of the right-handers with FS. In left-handers, the motoneuronal excitability was significantly higher on the left than the right side. Voluntary flexions of the wrist increased the H-reflex especially on the right side of the right-handers. There was no relationship between this corticospinal facilitation and baseline EMG activity. The H-reflex amplitude was found to be inversely correlated with hand skill in right-handers. It was concluded that motoneuronal excitability is associated with handedness and also depends on FS. It was suggested that small reflexes are especially suitable in fine motor control of rapid aimed-movements, as the well-established relation between the size of motor units and fine motor control.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The factor structure of handedness in India.

Two large surveys of hand preference were carried out in India, and compared to a large North American sample. Factor analysis indicated virtually identical factor structures in the three samples, with two primary factors involving skilled and unskilled activities. In the Indian samples, men were generally more likely to be left-handed than were women, and women were more likely to give extreme responses on the preference inventory. These data are consistent with findings from North American samples. The prevalence of left-handedness was significantly lower in the second Indian sample than in the other two samples. This may be indicative of a lower prevalence of left-handedness in the Indian population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Morphological asymmetries of motoneurons innervating upper extremities: clues to the anatomical foundations of handedness?

Handedness is one of the main issues in laterality research and is known to be related to a large number of morphological asymmetries of the central nervous system. However, the main focus of previous studies were cerebral structures, which ignored the spinal cord as the most distal neural entity innervating the muscles of the extremities. We analyzed morphometrically motoneurons from segments innervating the arms and hands and compared them with motoneurons of segments that innervated the upper trunk. We found an asymmetry with larger motoneuron perikaryas on the right side of the spinal cord in segments innervating the upper limbs. To our knowledge this is the first time a morphological asymmetry on single-cell-level was shown in the spinal cord of man. The possible relation of this cellular asymmetry to the origins of handedness is discussed.

Aged↗