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Southpaws Have a Different View | Psych Central News

By Rick Nauert PhD
November 5, 2009

For centuries scientists have tried to explain why only 10 percent of the population is left-handed. Lefties have been the subject of jokes, ridicule and admiration and have been cast as wacky, offbeat, and out-of-the box personality types.
New research suggests there may be some truth regarding the unique orientation of southpaws.

According to scientists, there are areas in the brain devoted to our arms, legs, and various parts of our bodies.

The distribution of these sites within our brain is known as “body maps” and there are some significant differences in these maps between left- and right-handed people.

For example, in left-handed people, there is an equal amount of brain area devoted to the left and right arms in both hemispheres. However, for right-handed people, there is more cortical area associated with the right arm than the left.

Psychologists from the University of Virginia, Purdue University, and The College of William and Mary assessed if the difference in body maps would lead to differences in how we perceive the length of our arms.

The results, reported in Psychological Science, reveal some differences in the way left- and right-handed people perceive their arms. Left-handed volunteers judged both of their arms to be the same length, but right-handed participants underestimated the length of their left arm—they consistently perceived their right arms as being longer.

In addition, right-handed volunteers thought their right hands were larger than their left, when in fact, they were both the same size. When guessing how far they could reach with their arms, left-handed volunteers estimated they could reach equally far with both arms while right-handed volunteers predicted they could reach farther with their right arm.

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Something interesting I found out about myself - I was left-handed as an early child, but pediatricians back then recommended parents force their left-handers to convert to 'rightie'. I don't know how screwed up being a converted rightie has made me - the only real distinct things I've noted over the years is that I had one helluva jumpshot. I could shoot the lights out of a basketball net from anyplace on the floor with either hand. I also excelled at marksmanship in the Marine Corps and probably have well above average eye-hand coordination.

No idea if my conversion had any effect on those things though....

Interesting article...

I, too, started out as a left-handed child. Due to an injury to my left hand at about the age I was being taught how to write, I became a righty simply because it was painful to hold a pencil with my left hand. To this day, my handwriting is almost illegible, even to me.

Even though I'm now essentially right-handed, I'm still better at manipulation and dexterity with my left hand. Any card or coin tricks or other slight of hand that I do is easier with my left hand than with my right. This was an advantage when learning magic because I could "mirror" the magician teaching me.

I also have high eye-hand coordination, as well as "calibrated eyeballs" as my dad calls them. He's left-handed and, like him, I can judge distances, measurements, and spatial dimensions by eye almost as accurately as with a ruler or a level.

Definitely an interesting article.

Interesting article, China. I've always been right-handed but have often wondered about why I do certain things with my left limbs. I have always jumped off my left foot, I've always steered a car with my left hand. I have greater finger dexterity with my left hand-(that could be due to decades of guitar playing)-but better motor control with my right arm. I am quite incapable of writing left-handed, or batting or throwing left-handed-but my left eye is my dominant eye. Fascinating stuff.