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handedness

$Image shows the location of the corpus callosum in the brain.$

·June 14, 2017·5 min read

Are Left Handed People More Gifted Than Others? It Might Hold True For Math

While many associate left handed people with being more gifted musicians and artists, a new study reveals left handers often outperform their right handed peers in difficult problem solving tasks.

This shows someone writing with their left hand

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·August 15, 2019·4 min read

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

Researchers look at the myths and the facts about left-handedness.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·October 23, 2016·4 min read

Earliest Evidence in Fossil Record for Right Handedness Discovered

Researchers have found the earliest evidence to date of right handedness in fossil records dating back 1.8 million years.

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·July 10, 2026·10 min read

Earliest Evidence of Right-Handedness Found

A new study identifies the oldest known evidence of "handedness" in the animal kingdom within the 550-million-year-old Ediacaran fossil Spriggina floundersi.

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·September 5, 2019·4 min read

Genes associated with left-handedness linked with shape of the brain’s language regions

Four genetic regions have been identified as playing a role in left-handedness. Three of the four genes were associated with proteins involved in brain development and structure. Neuroimaging revealed those who were left-handed had increased functional connectivity between left and right language networks. Researchers also found correlations between the genetic regions associated with left-handedness and slightly reduced Parkinson's risk, but a slightly increased risk for schizophrenia.

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·June 30, 2026·11 min read

Hand Dominance Is Driven by Practice, Not Birth

The skill gap between our dominant and non-dominant hands is not innate, but rather an emergent consequence of a lifetime of asymmetrical practice that manifests exclusively during tool use.

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·July 8, 2024·6 min read

Handedness and Vision May Reveal Hidden Social Strengths

A new study shows that human biases in handedness and visual field processing have social and cognitive implications. Researchers found that people with a reversed bias (left hand, right visual) are more likely to have social difficulties and conditions like autism or ADHD. The study reveals that aligning biases may have social benefits, much like in animals. These findings could lead to early screening and interventions for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Featured Genetics Neurology

·February 7, 2017·4 min read

Handedness Arises From Genes in the Spinal Cords of Embryos

Researchers report genes that exhibit the greatest left-right differences in embryos are also implicated in an increased risk of developing schizophrenia.

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·April 11, 2018·4 min read

Having One Eye Better Than the Other May Explain Ants’ Left Bias

A new study reveals behavioral lateralization may be hardwired during development rather than something learned from experience.

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·July 17, 2017·6 min read

Humans Hardwired to Lean to the Right While Kissing the World Over

Researchers suggest that, regardless of where we are from in the world, humans are hardwired to lean to the right when kissing a romantic partner. The findings could have wider implications for neuroscience and cognitive sciences, the researchers report.

This shows a person drawing with both hands.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 30, 2025·4 min read

Left-Handed Creativity Myth Debunked

The long-standing belief that left-handed people are more creative has been challenged by a new meta-analysis of over a century of research. After reviewing nearly 1,000 studies, researchers found no consistent advantage in creative thinking for lefties—in fact, right-handers slightly outperformed on some tests.

This shows a person hammering with his right hand and another with his left.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·August 9, 2025·5 min read

Left-Handers See Detail Differently Than Right-Handers

Researchers have discovered that whether you are right- or left-handed influences which side of your brain processes fine visual details. The new “action asymmetry hypothesis” proposes that brain specialization for high- and low-frequency visual information develops from the everyday way we use our hands.