Opposite Turning Behavior in Right-Handers and Non-Right-Handers Suggests a Link Between Handedness and Cerebral Dopamine Asymmetries.
- 1 January 2003
- journal article
- clinical trial
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Behavioral Neuroscience
- Vol. 117 (6) , 1448-1452
- https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7044.117.6.1448
Abstract
The strong right hand preference in humans remains a riddle; no lateralized behavior other than fine finger dexterity relates to it. The relation between handedness and language dominance may be far weaker than currently judged; after all, both right-handers and non-right-handers utilize the left brain for speech. There is, however, a lateralized motor preference in animals, turning behavior, that is strongly associated with hemispheric dopamine (DA) asymmetries. Turning consistently occurs towards the side with less DA. The authors tested 69 right-handers and 24 non-right-handers with a device recording spontaneous turning behavior for 20 hr within 3 days. Findings indicate that right-handers preferred left-sided turning and non-right-handers preferred right-sided turning. This result suggests a link between handedness and DA asymmetries.Keywords
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