Left-handedness has been connected to many different conditions, traits, and abilities. This is especially true for pathological syndromes, such as schizophrenia, along with learning disabilities and autism. The published research on handedness is vast and frequently contradictory, often raising more questions than providing answers. Questions such as:
- Is handedness genetic?
- Can handedness be changed?
- Are there consequences to training someone to switch handedness?
- Are there positive traits associated with left-handedness like creativity?
- Are there negative traits associated with left-handedness like trouble reading maps?
- Is it abnormal to do some things right-handed and other things left-handed?
- Are the brains of left-handers different from the brains of right-handers?
Laterality: Exploring the Enigma of Left-Handedness examines the research conducted over the past 50 years with special emphasis on twenty-first century research on handedness and translates this literature into an accessible and readable form. Each chapter is based on a question or questions covering diverse topics such as genetic and biological origins of handedness, familial and hormonal influences on handedness, and the effects of a majority right-handed world on the behaviors of left-handers.
Key Features
- Summarizes scientific research on laterality
- Separates fact from fiction in common beliefs about laterality
- Includes illustrative interviews with left-handers
Chapter 1. Everybody’s Right, So What’s Left?
- Abstract
- Hand Preference
- Hand Performance
- Hand Preference and Performance: Same or Different?
- Measuring Handedness: Do’s and Don’ts
- References
Chapter 2. Left in the Genes
- Abstract
- One Gene, Two Hands
- Many Genes, Two Hands
- What Conclusion is Left?
- References
Chapter 3. Who’s Left in the Family?
- Abstract
- Familial Sinistrality
- Families and Pathological Left-Handedness
- What’s Left to the Parents?
- References
Chapter 4. Left-Handers and the Right Mind
- Abstract
- Right Brain, Left Brain, and Handedness
- Thinking Left and Right
- Handwriting Postures and the Hemispheres
- Right Brain, Left Brain
- References
Chapter 5. Left with Raging Hormones
- Abstract
- Men to the Left, Women to the Right
- Left-Handedness and Sexual Orientation
- Left for All Seasons
- References
Chapter 6. Left to Die
- Abstract
- Why Left-Handedness and Early Death?
- Challenging Elimination
- Handedness Modification
- Eliminating Elimination
- References
Chapter 7. Left in a Right-Handed World
- Abstract
- Left-Handers Become Right-Handers
- Left-Handedness: Dangerous or Just Different?
- References
Chapter 8. Geography, History, and the Left Hand
- Abstract
- Touring the World with Left-Hand Turns
- Left-Handed Ups and Downs Through History
- References
Chapter 9. Disorders, Diseases, and Life on the Left
- Abstract
- Left-Handedness and Disorders of the Mind
- Is Left-handedness a Marker for Poor Health?
- A New Approach to Left-Handedness and Pathology
- References
Chapter 10. Life on the Left: Not Bad After All
- Abstract
- Is There a Left-Handed Personality Type?
- Left-Handedness, Ability, and Career Choice
- Left in the Sporting Life
- References
Chapter 11. More Than a Left Hand
- Abstract
- Footedness: The Other Limb Lateral Preference
- Eyedness: The Problem of Two Eyes
- Earedness: The Almost Forgotten Lateral Preference
- The Lateral Preference Line-up
- References
Chapter 12. Leftovers
- Abstract
- Hand Clasping and Arm Folding
- Leg Crossing
- Latent Leftness
- Human Ancestors, Left and Right
- One Thought Left
- References
- Rosenbaum, Human Motor Control, 528p, 2009 9780123742261, $79.97
- Latash, Fundamentals of Motor Control, 2012, 9780123914125, 364p, 2012, $74.95
Researchers in cognitive psych, neuropsych, motor control
