Handedness and birth stress

Bakan, Paul; Dibb, Gary S.; Reed, Phil

doi:10.1016/0028-3932(73)90050-x

Cited by 267 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…He argues that the change in hand preference may be a residual effect of birth trauma. He presents evidence that hypoxia is more common in difficult births and that the left hemisphere is more vulnerable to the effects of hypoxia than the right (Bakan et al 1973). Indeed, there is an excess of left-handers in babies with a history of birth stress (Schwartz 1988;Williams et al 1992), and in individuals with neurological impairments of diverse kinds.…”

Section: Developmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are some people left-handed? An evolutionary perspective

Llaurens

Raymond

Faurie

2008

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

158

134

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Since prehistoric times, left-handed individuals have been ubiquitous in human populations, exhibiting geographical frequency variations. Evolutionary explanations have been proposed for the persistence of the handedness polymorphism. Left-handedness could be favoured by negative frequency-dependent selection. Data have suggested that left-handedness, as the rare hand preference, could represent an important strategic advantage in fighting interactions. However, the fact that left-handedness occurs at a low frequency indicates that some evolutionary costs could be associated with left-handedness. Overall, the evolutionary dynamics of this polymorphism are not fully understood. Here, we review the abundant literature available regarding the possible mechanisms and consequences of left-handedness. We point out that hand preference is heritable, and report how hand preference is influenced by genetic, hormonal, developmental and cultural factors. We review the available information on potential fitness costs and benefits acting as selective forces on the proportion of left-handers. Thus, evolutionary perspectives on the persistence of this polymorphism in humans are gathered for the first time, highlighting the necessity for an assessment of fitness differences between right-and left-handers.

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Section: Developmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are some people left-handed? An evolutionary perspective

Llaurens

Raymond

Faurie

2008

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

158

134

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“…We will not focus on pathological development. It is well known that the incidence of left-handedness is positively related to behavioural disorders, birth stress and low birth weight (Bakan et al 1973;Coren 1993 for a review), and this is reviewed in another contribution to this issue (Llaurens et al 2009). …”

Section: Potential Environmental Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenesis of behavioural lateralization in humans and other animals

Schaafsma

Riedstra

Pfannkuche

et al. 2008

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

110

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Despite several decades of research, the epigenesis of behavioural and brain lateralization is still elusive, although its knowledge is important in understanding developmental plasticity, function and evolution of lateralization, and its relationship with developmental disorders. Over the last decades, it has become clear that behavioural lateralization is not restricted to humans, but a fundamental principle in the organization of behaviour in vertebrates. This has opened the possibility of extending descriptive studies on human lateralization with descriptive and experimental studies on other vertebrate species. In this review, we therefore explore the evidence for the role of genes and environment on behavioural lateralization in humans and other animals. First, we discuss the predominant genetic models for human handedness, and conclude that their explanatory power alone is not sufficient, leaving, together with ambiguous results from adoption studies and selection experiments in animals, ample opportunity for a role of environmental factors. Next, we discuss the potential influence of such factors, including perinatal asymmetrical perception induced by asymmetrical head position or parental care, and social modulation, both in humans and other vertebrates, presenting some evidence from our own work on the domestic chick. We conclude that both perinatal asymmetrical perception and later social modulation are likely candidates in influencing the degree or strength of lateralization in both humans and other vertebrates. However, in most cases unequivocal evidence for this is lacking and we will point out further avenues for research.

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“…An early theory of the causes of left-handedness is that birth stress plays a key rôle; see Bakan et al (1973). The argument is that if, during birth, there is damage to the left side of the skull as it passes through the birth canal then this may be sufficient to cause an individual to switch from being a right-hander since our brains are `contra- The books by Coren (1993) and McManus (2002) provide accessible introductions to the area.…”

Section: Lateralitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The economic consequences of being left-handed: some sinister results

Denny¹,

O’Sullivan²

2006

Working Paper Series

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This paper provides the first estimates of the effects of handedness on hourly earnings. Augmenting a conventional earnings equation with an indicator of left handedness shows there is a well determined positive effect on male earnings with non-manual workers enjoying a slightly larger premium.These results are inconsistent with the view that left-handers in general are in some sense handicapped either innately or through experiencing a world geared towards right-handers. The results for females however reveal the opposite, left-handed females are paid significantly less. This is consistent with some psychological evidence which suggests that left-hander males have particular talents such as enhanced creativity and some evidence on brain morphology which also suggests advantages for left-handed males.Keywords: earnings, brain, left-handed, laterality The economic consequences of being left-handed: some sinister results

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Handedness and birth stress

Cited by 267 publications

References 7 publications

Why are some people left-handed? An evolutionary perspective

Why are some people left-handed? An evolutionary perspective

Epigenesis of behavioural lateralization in humans and other animals

The economic consequences of being left-handed: some sinister results

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