Did You Know...

Left-handers of the world, unite!

We left-handed people have a special bond. At book signings, left-handers always make a point of noticing that I’m one of them. Fellow left-handers will ask which hand I shoot or bowl with (right-handed–but I crochet and sew left-handed). We all have stories of elementary school persecution. We have the same sayings:

“It’s the only thing left about me.”

“Only left-handed people are in their right minds.”

“Everyone is born right-handed. Only the greatest overcome it.”

Har-har.

Anyway, a left-handed fan passed along the latest news on our brains. Looks like we can play games and think faster than all you right-handers:

Left-handed people can think quicker when carrying out tasks such as playing computer games or playing sport, say Australian researchers.

Connections between the left and right hand sides or hemispheres of the brain are faster in left-handed people, a study in Neuropsychology shows.

The fast transfer of information in the brain makes left-handers more efficient when dealing with multiple stimuli.

Experts said left-handers tended to use both sides of the brain more easily.

Study leader Dr Nick Cherbuin from the Australian National University measured transfer time between the two sides of the brain by measuring reaction times to white dots flashed to the left and right of a fixed cross.

He then compared this with how good participants were at carrying out a task to spot matching letters in the left and right visual fields, which would require them to use both sides of the brain at the same time.

Tests in 80 right-handed volunteers showed there was a strong correlation between how quickly information was transferred across the left and right hemispheres and how quickly people spotted matching letters.

But when the tests were repeated in 20 left-handed volunteers, the researchers found that the more left-handed people were, the better they were at processing information across the two sides of the brain.

The term is “bicerebral:”

Chartered psychologist, Dr Steve Williams said left-handed people tended to be better at using both sides of the brain.

“It’s certainly very interesting. It’s always been said that left-handers are different from right-handers in that they are less consistent with their left-handedness.

“This seems to go with evidence that left-handers use both sides of the brain for language – that they are more bicerebral. They get faster at it because they’re having to use both sides of the brain more.”

Small but sweet revenge for all of who were forced to use your blasted scissors and can openers.

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Wikipedia actually keeps a list of famous left-handers. The musicians’ section is interesting in light of the latest study’s findings on bicerebral-ness.