Left Handed vs. Right Handed People

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CVX
Posts: 722
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:00 pm

Left Handed vs. Right Handed People

Post by CVX »

Fair use policy applies

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4242419.stm

Left-handed and right-handed people view the world differently, scientists have shown.

Psychologists found they use opposite sides of their brains when looking at, and making sense of, an image.

It is already known that handedness is associated with differences in the way we make sense of language, and possibly in spatial orientation.

Details of the study, by the University of Birmingham, are published in Nature Neuroscience.

The researchers showed right-handed people use the right hemisphere of their brain to focus on the whole of an image - for example a forest.

But when it comes to focusing on the detail within an image - for instance individual trees in a forest - then they use their left hemisphere.

For left-handers the opposite is true.

Disrupted activity

The researchers used a technique called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) which momentarily disrupts brain activity.

The researchers applied TMS over either the left or right parietal lobe at the back of the brain while volunteers concentrated on the details of a visual stimulus.

Stimulation of the left side of the brain made it harder for right-handers to attend to detail, whilst stimulation of the right side had this effect on left-handers.

Professor Glyn Humphreys from the University's School of Psychology said: "In right-handed people the right hemisphere sees the whole picture, whereas the left hemisphere attends to the details.

"However, we have found that in left-handed people, this is completely reversed.

"Not only our language function, but even the way we see the world can depend on our handedness."

Professor Humphreys told the BBC News website the findings suggested that brain damage would affect left and right-handers ability to make sense of detail in different ways.

It was also possible that reading skills - which require making sense of a lot of close detail - may development in different ways.

Dr Stephen Williams, a chartered psychologist based in Colchester, was doubtful that the perception of images was quite so starkly different between left and right handed people.

It had been thought that the left half of the brain was responsible for language processing in right handed people, while the right hemisphere played the same role for left handed people, he said.

But subsequent research had found that while 95% of right handed people did indeed process language in the left hemisphere, so did 70% of left handed people - and half of the rest used both hemispheres.



Research has suggested that left-handed people are more susceptible to a range of problems, including allergies, auto-immune diseases, depression, drug abuse, epilepsy, schizophrenia and sleeping disorders.

Left-handers are thought to have poorer spatial skills, and thus to be more vulnerable to car crashes and other serious accidents.

However, a study published by The Lancet suggested there was no truth in the theory that left-handers are more likely to die prematurely.
User avatar
Lon
Posts: 9476
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 11:38 pm

Left Handed vs. Right Handed People

Post by Lon »

CVX wrote: Fair use policy applies

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4242419.stm



Left-handed and right-handed people view the world differently, scientists have shown.



Psychologists found they use opposite sides of their brains when looking at, and making sense of, an image.



It is already known that handedness is associated with differences in the way we make sense of language, and possibly in spatial orientation.



Details of the study, by the University of Birmingham, are published in Nature Neuroscience.



The researchers showed right-handed people use the right hemisphere of their brain to focus on the whole of an image - for example a forest.



But when it comes to focusing on the detail within an image - for instance individual trees in a forest - then they use their left hemisphere.



For left-handers the opposite is true.



Disrupted activity



The researchers used a technique called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) which momentarily disrupts brain activity.



The researchers applied TMS over either the left or right parietal lobe at the back of the brain while volunteers concentrated on the details of a visual stimulus.



Stimulation of the left side of the brain made it harder for right-handers to attend to detail, whilst stimulation of the right side had this effect on left-handers.



Professor Glyn Humphreys from the University's School of Psychology said: "In right-handed people the right hemisphere sees the whole picture, whereas the left hemisphere attends to the details.



"However, we have found that in left-handed people, this is completely reversed.



"Not only our language function, but even the way we see the world can depend on our handedness."



Professor Humphreys told the BBC News website the findings suggested that brain damage would affect left and right-handers ability to make sense of detail in different ways.



It was also possible that reading skills - which require making sense of a lot of close detail - may development in different ways.



Dr Stephen Williams, a chartered psychologist based in Colchester, was doubtful that the perception of images was quite so starkly different between left and right handed people.



It had been thought that the left half of the brain was responsible for language processing in right handed people, while the right hemisphere played the same role for left handed people, he said.



But subsequent research had found that while 95% of right handed people did indeed process language in the left hemisphere, so did 70% of left handed people - and half of the rest used both hemispheres.





Research has suggested that left-handed people are more susceptible to a range of problems, including allergies, auto-immune diseases, depression, drug abuse, epilepsy, schizophrenia and sleeping disorders.



Left-handers are thought to have poorer spatial skills, and thus to be more vulnerable to car crashes and other serious accidents.



However, a study published by The Lancet suggested there was no truth in the theory that left-handers are more likely to die prematurely.
What's the take on those of us that are ambidextrous?
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persephone
Posts: 664
Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2004 3:14 pm

Left Handed vs. Right Handed People

Post by persephone »

Lon wrote: What's the take on those of us that are ambidextrous?
That's what I was going to say, I'm weaker with my left but I still use it more often than my right... Hey, could my brain be that confuddled that it's the reason for my dyspraxia and dyslexia ??? :wah:
Bad Girls have very high standards, but they love you even if you sometimes fall short.
busybee
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:04 am

Left Handed vs. Right Handed People

Post by busybee »

Could have something there. My youngest daughter is left handed and has a tendency to write certain letters and numbers back to front, gets confused between "p" and b" and the numbers "2" and "5" - causes her a lot of frustration. Yet when it comes to mental arithmetic, she can blurt out the answers in class, writing it down is more of a problem for her...... the school says it's normal in left handed people.
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Raven
Posts: 4069
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 5:21 am

Left Handed vs. Right Handed People

Post by Raven »

CVX wrote: Fair use policy applies

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4242419.stm

Left-handed and right-handed people view the world differently, scientists have shown.

Psychologists found they use opposite sides of their brains when looking at, and making sense of, an image.

It is already known that handedness is associated with differences in the way we make sense of language, and possibly in spatial orientation.

Details of the study, by the University of Birmingham, are published in Nature Neuroscience.

The researchers showed right-handed people use the right hemisphere of their brain to focus on the whole of an image - for example a forest.

But when it comes to focusing on the detail within an image - for instance individual trees in a forest - then they use their left hemisphere.

For left-handers the opposite is true.

Disrupted activity

The researchers used a technique called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) which momentarily disrupts brain activity.

The researchers applied TMS over either the left or right parietal lobe at the back of the brain while volunteers concentrated on the details of a visual stimulus.

Stimulation of the left side of the brain made it harder for right-handers to attend to detail, whilst stimulation of the right side had this effect on left-handers.

Professor Glyn Humphreys from the University's School of Psychology said: "In right-handed people the right hemisphere sees the whole picture, whereas the left hemisphere attends to the details.

"However, we have found that in left-handed people, this is completely reversed.

"Not only our language function, but even the way we see the world can depend on our handedness."

Professor Humphreys told the BBC News website the findings suggested that brain damage would affect left and right-handers ability to make sense of detail in different ways.

It was also possible that reading skills - which require making sense of a lot of close detail - may development in different ways.

Dr Stephen Williams, a chartered psychologist based in Colchester, was doubtful that the perception of images was quite so starkly different between left and right handed people.

It had been thought that the left half of the brain was responsible for language processing in right handed people, while the right hemisphere played the same role for left handed people, he said.

But subsequent research had found that while 95% of right handed people did indeed process language in the left hemisphere, so did 70% of left handed people - and half of the rest used both hemispheres.



Research has suggested that left-handed people are more susceptible to a range of problems, including allergies, auto-immune diseases, depression, drug abuse, epilepsy, schizophrenia and sleeping disorders.

Left-handers are thought to have poorer spatial skills, and thus to be more vulnerable to car crashes and other serious accidents.

However, a study published by The Lancet suggested there was no truth in the theory that left-handers are more likely to die prematurely.
Well sheesh! Thats a relief! LOL! Being a lefty to the bone myself, I'm quite pleased to hear that I wont die prematurely! :yh_laugh
~Quoth the Raven, Nevermore!~
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