Relative hand skill predicts academic ability: global deficits at the point of hemispheric indecision

Crow, Timothy J.; Crow, Latoya; Done, D.J.; Leask, Stuart

doi:10.1016/s0028-3932(98)00039-6

Cited by 233 publications

(196 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…It is of interest to speculate, though, that cerebral symmetry, or a relative lack of consistent lateralization, might have cognitive consequences that are adaptive, but only if a minority condition, creating kinds of cognitive oddity that may lead to creativity or enhanced charisma. In what may appear as an unpromising lead, Barnett & Corballis (2002) found that mixed-handers were more prone to magical ideation, characterized by mild paranoia and superstition, than either left-or right-handers-a function that was essentially the inverse of the relationship between academic achievement and handedness reported by Crow et al (1998). A similar result was reported by Nicholls et al (2005), although Jaspers-Fayer & Peters (2005) found no relationship between handedness and magical ideation, which was nevertheless more prevalent in females with a tendency to left-right confusion, perhaps suggestive of cerebral symmetry.…”

Section: (B) Why the Variation In Lateralization?mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Although Leonhard and Brugger's account focuses on the right hemisphere, it is possible that the profile has to do with the lack of cerebral dominance rather than any specialization of the right hemisphere itself. Despite the evidence that mixed-handers show some deficit in arithmetic ability (Crow et al 1998;Corballis et al 2008), Singh & O'Boyle (2004) reported that mathematically gifted adolescents show no hemispheric asymmetry on tasks involving global-local judgements and matching letters, whereas average-ability adolescents and college students show a left-hemispheric advantage, suggesting that the mathematically gifted may lack consistent cerebral asymmetry. Although Singh and O'Boyle selected right-handers for this study, they also characterize the mathematically gifted as 'typically male, left-handed, and myopic' (p. 371).…”

Section: (B) Why the Variation In Lateralization?mentioning

confidence: 98%

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The evolution and genetics of cerebral asymmetry

Corballis

2008

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

232

167

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Handedness and cerebral asymmetry are commonly assumed to be uniquely human, and even defining characteristics of our species. This is increasingly refuted by the evidence of behavioural asymmetries in non-human species. Although complex manual skill and language are indeed unique to our species and are represented asymmetrically in the brain, some non-human asymmetries appear to be precursors, and others are shared between humans and non-humans. In all behavioural and cerebral asymmetries so far investigated, a minority of individuals reverse or negate the dominant asymmetry, suggesting that such asymmetries are best understood in the context of the overriding bilateral symmetry of the brain and body, and a trade-off between the relative advantages and disadvantages of symmetry and asymmetry. Genetic models of handedness, for example, typically postulate a gene with two alleles, one disposing towards right-handedness and the other imposing no directional influence. There is as yet no convincing evidence as to the location of this putative gene, suggesting that several genes may be involved, or that the gene may be monomorphic with variations due to environmental or epigenetic influences. Nevertheless, it is suggested that, in behavioural, neurological and evolutionary terms, it may be more profitable to examine the degree rather than the direction of asymmetry.

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Section: (B) Why the Variation In Lateralization?mentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: (B) Why the Variation In Lateralization?mentioning

confidence: 98%

The evolution and genetics of cerebral asymmetry

Corballis

2008

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

232

167

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“…Non-right handers, meaning either ambidextrous or left-handed (also referred to as mixed handedness), are more prone than right-handers to suffer from a range of conditions, including schizophrenia [32,33], psychosis [34] and post-traumatic stress disorder [35]. Also, as found in a large sample of 11-year-old children [36], ambidextrous handedness is associated with poorer verbal, nonverbal, reading and mathematical skills compared to either left-or right-handers. This finding has been supported by the results of follow-up studies conducted on children of various ages and adolescents [37,38].…”

Section: Limb Preference and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

A Matter of Degree: Strength of Brain Asymmetry and Behaviour

Rogers

2017

Symmetry

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Abstract:Research on a growing number of vertebrate species has shown that the left and right sides of the brain process information in different ways and that lateralized brain function is expressed in both specific and broad aspects of behaviour. This paper reviews the available evidence relating strength of lateralization to behavioural/cognitive performance. It begins by considering the relationship between limb preference and behaviour in humans and primates from the perspectives of direction and strength of lateralization. In birds, eye preference is used as a reflection of brain asymmetry and the strength of this asymmetry is associated with behaviour important for survival (e.g., visual discrimination of food from non-food and performance of two tasks in parallel). The same applies to studies on aquatic species, mainly fish but also tadpoles, in which strength of lateralization has been assessed as eye preferences or turning biases. Overall, the empirical evidence across vertebrate species points to the conclusion that stronger lateralization is advantageous in a wide range of contexts. Brief discussion of interhemispheric communication follows together with discussion of experiments that examined the effects of sectioning pathways connecting the left and right sides of the brain, or of preventing the development of these left-right connections. The conclusion reached is that degree of functional lateralization affects behaviour in quite similar ways across vertebrate species. Although the direction of lateralization is also important, in many situations strength of lateralization matters more. Finally, possible interactions between asymmetry in different sensory modalities is considered.

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“…mixed-handed, ambi-preference) may indicate disruption to the cerebral lateralization of language function (e.g. Crow, Crow, Done, & Leask, 1998;Delcato, 1966;Orton, 1937;Rodriguez et al, 2010;Yeo, Gangestad, & Thoma, 2007;Yeo, Gangestad, Thoma, Shaw, & Repa, 1997). Thus, strength of handedness may act as a useful behavioral marker of children at risk for dysfunction of subsequent language processes long before language develops (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slip of the tongue: Implications for evolution and language development

Forrester

2015

Cognition

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a b s t r a c tA prevailing theory regarding the evolution of language implicates a gestural stage prior to the emergence of speech. In support of a transition of human language from a gestural to a vocal system, articulation of the hands and the tongue are underpinned by overlapping left hemisphere dominant neural regions. Behavioral studies demonstrate that human adults perform sympathetic mouth actions in imitative synchrony with manual actions. Additionally, right-handedness for precision manual actions in children has been correlated with the typical development of language, while a lack of hand bias has been associated with psychopathology. It therefore stands to reason that sympathetic mouth actions during fine precision motor action of the hands may be lateralized. We employed a fine-grained behavioral coding paradigm to provide the first investigation of tongue protrusions in typically developing 4-year old children. Tongue protrusions were investigated across a range of cognitive tasks that required varying degrees of manual action: precision motor action, gross motor action and no motor actions. The rate of tongue protrusions was influenced by the motor requirements of the task and tongue protrusions were significantly right-biased for only precision manual motor action (p < .001). From an evolutionary perspective, tongue protrusions can drive new investigations regarding how an early human communication system transitioned from hand to mouth. From a developmental perspective, the present study may serve to reveal patterns of tongue protrusions during the motor development of typically developing children.

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Relative hand skill predicts academic ability: global deficits at the point of hemispheric indecision

Cited by 233 publications

References 22 publications

The evolution and genetics of cerebral asymmetry

The evolution and genetics of cerebral asymmetry

A Matter of Degree: Strength of Brain Asymmetry and Behaviour

Slip of the tongue: Implications for evolution and language development

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