Hand-ness according to Wikipedia, is about how we use our small motor skills, using either our right or left hand, whichever is dominant to us.

Firstly, I must stress that much of what I read on this subject, although not necessary mentioned in this article, were theories rather than facts, and there were many contradictions between some pieces of information, hence I have quoted where, by whom, and in what way the studies I have researched and used were been reached.

Research showed me that Scientists led by an Oxford University team believe that left-handed people become so due to having inherited the gene LRRTM1, which right handed people do not have. This gene appears to play a key role in controlling which parts of the brain take control of specific functions, such as speech and emotion.

The above study appears in the journal of Molecular Psychiatry.

August 13th is Left-Handers’ Day, due to this being a genetic occurrence that runs in families, including that of the present Royal Family, as in Princes Charles and William, and many other world-famous people. 

The main difference, I discovered, between left and right handers is the way in which their brain works.

There is a total flip in left-handed people, for their left side of the brain will usually control emotions

It is well known that one side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body. In right-handed people the left side of the brain usually controls speech and language, and the right side of the brain controls emotions. There is a total flip (opposite), however, in left-handed people, for their left side of the brain will usually control emotions, and the right side of the brain will control speech and language. 

Research shows that left-handers are prone to unusual balances of brain function, this possibly leading to the risk of schizophrenia. I must stress, however, that there are many other factors to be considered, and the vast majority of left-handed people will never develop this problem.

Jane Harris of the mental health charity Rethink says, “No-one really understands what causes schizophrenia yet. It is probably a combination of many factors, including genetics, (that particular gene again,) problems in childbirth, viral infections, drug use, poverty and urbanisation”.

Left-handers are also said to be more accident prone. However, on the positive side, according to studies carried out by Dr. Alan Serleman and his team from St. Lawrence University in New York, left-handers are far more intelligent than right-handers: Their I.Q.’s are more likely to be over 140, which is the ‘genius’ bracket. It has also been noted that there are more left-handers in creative professions such as music, art and writing, and that they are also very good mathematicians.

There are even myths about left handed soldiers being at an advantage, for in the days of us fighting with swords and shields, it was said that left handers lived longer, for they protected themselves by holding their shields over their hearts.

At least left-handers are now allowed to use their left hand, unlike previously, when they were forced into using their right hands in school. There are even left-handed implements in all forms to help them now, so like so many things in life, we have progressed, thank goodness!

In summarising I must say that this has been one of the most fascinating subjects I have touched on so-far.

There are even myths about left handed soldiers being at an advantage

As we have seen, there are defiantly many differences between left and right handed people, but both have their own intelligence and well being, each to be used to their own advantage.

Let us not under estimate the power of our brain and its intellectual ability, for by continually stimulating their brain, brain trauma victims have recovered from their disabilities, both mentally and physically, having retrained their brains to re-work, often in a completely different way.

Dr. Clyde Francks Lead Researcher of Oxford University’s Wellcome Trust for Human Genetics has said, “The next step would be to probe the impact on the development of the brain further”, and it is my belief that our brains and minds, with its many concepts, could possibly even hold the capabilities of transporting us into other worlds mentally, perhaps taking us into other dimensions’.

Watch out for my next article, based on this thought!