Scientists May Have Identified The Genes Associated With Left-Handedness

People usually fall into the category of being left-handed or right-handed (although there are some who ambidextrous). However, the question is, what determines a person being either a lefty or righty? According to scientists, for the first time ever, they have managed to identify the genes that make a person left-handed.

This is according to a new study by scientists at the University of Oxford who published their findings in the journal Brain. Previously, there was a research conducted on twins that did hint that genes played a role in controlling a person’s handedness, but now this study seems to suggest a more concrete finding.

In fact, it seems to suggest that these genetic variants could have also resulted in brain structures being different in people who are left-handed, where they might have better verbal skills than those who are right-handed. The researchers isolated four genetic regions in DNA that are associated with left-handedness, where three of those regions were linked to proteins that influence the brain structure and its development.

They also analyzed brain imaging from about 10,000 people and found that the genetic differences were linked in the brain’s white matter tracts that connect to parts of the brain that are associated with language.

According to one of the researchers, Akira Wiberg, “This raises the intriguing possibility for future research that left-handers might have an advantage when it comes to performing verbal tasks, but it must be remembered that these differences were only seen as averages over very large numbers of people and not all left-handers will be similar.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Science