HWN Suggests

Are You Left-Handed? Science Still Yearns to Know Why

Being left-handed can be devilishly hard. In 1937, an educational psychologist whose work was later discredited wrote of many left-handers that “they squint, they stammer, they shuffle and shamble, they flounder like seals out of water.” Beyond accusations of being gauche, left-handers have also had to deal with more sinister imputations. In fact, the Latin for “left” is sinister, and the left hand has historically been associated with witchcraft and devil worship. While the charges of being clumsy can often be attributed to left-handers having to put up with tools designed for right-handers, the connection to demonic powers is simply supernatural nonsense, though it is easy to imagine why left-handers...

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Featured

 Genes play a very small role in determining left-handedness, research finds

If you're left-handed, like me, you know you are one of a rare and special breed. Just 10% of the world's population is estimated to be left-handed, but many common conceptions about left-handedness turn out to be wrong, starting with that it's definitely hereditary.

 What Makes Some of Us Left-Handed? Hint: Nobody Knows

A neuroscientist (and a lefty himself) offers a short but meaty survey of the science and sociology of handedness.

 Why are most people right-handed?

A mix of biology, environment, and evolution helps explain our rightie-dominated world.

Articles of Interest

You don't say? Is there anything right about being left-handed?

Some research has suggested that left-handers have unique qualities over their right-handed counterparts. For example, they are believed to be more creative and more athletic and to have better memories. But these are still unproven theories. In terms of health, however, it's speculated that left-handed people have shorter life spans. The idea comes partly from observational studies that found left-handed people have higher rates of colon cancer and cardiovascular disease than righties. Living in a right-handed world also may contribute to their supposedly briefer lives. Studies have found lefties have more accidents than righties. However, this might be explained by lefties having to use power tools and other dangerous equipment designed for right-handers. The bottom line is that it's uncertain whether lefties have shorter lives than righties — or any apparent advantage over their right-handed brethren. It seems that when it comes to which side people favor, there's no right or wrong.

Alleged Perils Of Left-Handedness Don't Always Hold Up

I recently stumbled upon a description of research out of Yale that suggested there was a link between left-handedness and psychotic disorders like schizophrenia. Forty percent of those with psychotic disorders are lefties, one of the researchers said. That startled me. Only about 10 percent of people in the general population are left-handed. I'm one of them. I've often read that I'm going to die earlier. Also, I'm bad with scissors. And now, it seemed, I'm at high risk for mental illness. Was my hand preference a lifelong curse? The short answer: No.

Are You Right- Or Left-Handed? What That Might Mean About Your Brain

As the right-handed product of two left-handed parents, I'm always fascinated by left vs. right (it always affected our dinner-seating situation; if we sat the wrong way, we'd be bumping arms throughout the entire meal). Here's a possible piece in the puzzle as to why 90% are righties and 10% are lefties...

At last, the benefits of being left-handed are confirmed

A new study has found that lefties’ brains could be associated with better verbal skills, among other talents. I always knew I was special.

Being left-handed doesn’t mean you are right-brained – so what does it mean?

There have been plenty of claims about what being left-handed means, and whether it changes the type of person someone is – but the truth is something of an enigma. Myths about handedness appear year after year, but researchers have yet to uncover all of what it means to be left-handed. So why are people left-handed? The truth is we don’t fully know that either. What we do know is that only around 10% of people across the world are left-handed – but this isn’t split equally between the sexes.

Brain Science Is Ignoring Left-Handed People

After being continually rejected for brain research studies, left-handed people are often amazed to find Lyam Bailey, a doctoral student in psychology and neuroscience, who readily accepts them. Most other neuroscientists accept only right-handed participants.

Is handedness related to health status?

Handedness is the most important behavioural asymmetry due to its intimate association with the specialisation of the brain for language. It exists in 3 forms, namely right, left and mixed. Left-handers constitute the biggest minority group in the world and in many aspects they are in a disadvantaged position compared to right-handers. Numerous studies demonstrated association between left-handedness and different health problems ranging from learning disorders to breast cancer and decreased longevity.

Left-Handedness

Being a left-handed person has never been easy. The stigmatism of having a left dominant hand is even anchored in human language. The word "left" in Italian is "sinistra", a word from the 15th century with roots going back to the Latin "sinister". It was used in the sense of "dishonest, unlucky, unfavorable", and left-handed people were accused of practicing witchcraft. We may have heard people being described as "gauche", or "left" in French, to refer to their awkwardness. The term "southpaw" is occasionally used endearingly to refer to a left-handed person, although it is sometimes considered stigmatizing.

Left-Handedness: No Longer Suspect; Still A Mystery

Many mysteries and misconceptions surround this group. Its members have been called artistically gifted and self-reliant, but also untrustworthy and insincere. Most recently, several of them have been called the president of the United States.

Lefties: Fact vs. fiction about left-handed people

For thousands of years, southpaws were vilified as "unholy,” linked to various learning disabilities, and implicated in a range of behavioral and mental health conditions. (Lefties are still referred to as “sinistral” in the scientific community, a term derived from the Latin word “sinister,” meaning “of the left.”) As recently as the 1960s, in fact, children who displayed tendencies towards left-handedness in the American public school system were “corrected” and forced to write and eat with their right hand.

On the Left Hand, There Are No Easy Answers

There are certain rare syndromes in which the usual asymmetry of organs is reversed — I remember how disconcerting it was the first time I examined a child with dextrocardia, a heart on the right side, and heard the heart sounds in unexpected places. But when it comes to handedness, another basic human asymmetry, which reflects the structure and function of the brain, the reversed pattern is relatively common, and for all that, not easily understood.

The Health Risks of Being Left-Handed

Left-handers have been the subject of curiosity, stigma and even fear over the centuries. Researchers now, however, are recognizing the scientific importance of understanding why people use one hand or the other to write, eat or toss a ball.

There’s no single gene for left-handedness. At least 41 regions of DNA are involved

About 88% of people prefer to use their right hand for complex tasks, around 10% prefer their left hand, and the other 2% report they do not have a preference and can use either hand. Hand preference develops so early that it can be seen in the womb. Handedness tends to stabilise around the time children are learning to draw. In the absence of injury or training it remains constant throughout life. Evidence from historic human populations suggests it has been this way for hundreds of thousands of years.

What Does Left Hand Know That Right Hand Doesn't?

On January 20, Barack Obama was sworn in as president of the United States. It was a triumphant day not just for Democrats, African Americans, and Americans who wanted a leadership change, but for left-handed Americans. The reason? Only 10 percent of the American population is left-handed, and Obama is one of this minority group.

What Makes Left-handed People Unique?

You probably don't think about left-handed folks until you have to sit next to a lefty at the dinner table and end up getting elbowed in the ribs. Lefties represent only 10 percent of the world's population, yet they've been such a fascination for so long that study after study has been conducted on what makes them so unique.

Why left-handed people are likelier to be mentally ill

The same brain differences that contribute to left-handedness also contribute to psychotic disorders. But there’s a bright side.

Resources

20 Little-Known Facts About Being Left-Handed

Scientists aren’t exactly sure why some people are left-handed, but they know that genes are responsible about 25% of the time, says Yeo. Left-handedness does tend to run in families, he says, “but noticeably less than other inherited traits, like height or intelligence.”

Five advantages of being left-handed

From playing hard to thinking hard, a southpaw bias can have a major impact on performance.

Left Handers Club

We started The Left Handers Club back in 1990 in response to requests from customers to produce a newsletter and campaign on behalf of left-handers to get more products made and raise awareness of the issues facing left-handers – particularly left-handed children in school.

Left Handers Day

Left Handers Day is an annual celebration for those lucky enough to have been born left-handed and also our way of raising awareness among the right-handed majority of the different talents and needs of left-handers, particularly children.

Left Handers Club International

Welcome to the ultimate space for left-handers! This group is all about sharing experiences, tips, and everything related to being left-handed. **Only lefties allowed**—no exceptions. Sorry, righties, this is our time to shine!

Lefty's the Left-Hand Store

TheLeftHandStore.com is the premiere online store for left-handed products.