However, there does appear to be a strong link between brain patterns or organization and left- or right-handedness, and neuroscientists are doing more research on the subject.Įach side of the human brain is described as a hemisphere, and since the 19th century, it has been understood that the brain hemispheres specialize in different tasks. Anatomists soon proved that this was not the case.
So they expected the heart to be located on the right side of the body of a left-handed person. Others took this theory a step further, believing that it would apply physically as well. Paul Broca, 19th-century French neurosurgeon, advanced the theory that a left-handed person is a mirror-image of a right-handed person with regard to brain function. Over the years some interesting theories have surfaced. Studies suggest that the trait is inherited, although a child’s environment in the formative years may have a bearing on the degree of favoritism shown to the right or the left hand. Why is it that some use their left hand for almost everything they do? There are varied explanations. So left-handers must reach across their body to operate such things.
#VIOLIN NOTE CHART INVERTED FOR LEFT HANDED TV#
TV dials and controls are also usually found on the right side. For example, the cold-water tap is usually placed on the right side of the sink, apparently because it is the tap most used. So you have lots of company if you are a left-hander.Ī left-handed person may chafe at the way so many household appliances are obviously designed for the convenience of those who are right-handed. But even 5 or 6 percent of the world’s population would come to some 300 million people. Grolier’s Encyclopedia International sets the world figure of those who are left-handed at about 6 percent. We might estimate that 4 or 5 per cent is likely in a civilised democracy with an enlightened educational outlook.” Michael Barsley, who researched the subject thoroughly, wrote in his book Left-Handed People: “Between the 1 per cent and the 30 per cent, there must obviously be an approximately accurate figure, but no one’s statistics have been universally accepted. Estimates of the number of left-handed people have ranged all the way from 1 to 30 percent. IF YOU are left-handed, does it bother you that you are different from people who are right-handed? It is true that left-handers are in a minority, although the exact percentage is difficult to determine. Left-Handedness-Disadvantage or Advantage?