Left/ right hand?

Question

does anyone know if using the opposite hand that you use normally (such as writing with your left hand when you're normally right handed) makes you more left/right brained?

Answer 1

I would say in some ways yes, and some ways no.

The left hemisphere of your brain controls the right side of your body whereas the right hemisphere controls the left side of your body.

But at the same time the left side of your brain is in charge of logic, reasoning, and speech.  The right side is the visual, creative, and athletic side.  To me..none of these skills really have to do with the fact that you are better at writing with you left or right hand.  But who knows..maybe it does.

I am right handed, and more left brained.  If that helps at all... =]]

Answer 2

both

Answer 3

The term brain lateralization refers to the fact that the two halves of the human brain are not exactly alike. Each hemisphere has functional specializations: some function whose neural mechanisms are localized primarily in one half of the brain.

In humans, the most obvious functional specialization is speech and language abilities. In the mid-1800s, Paul Broca (a French neurosurgeon) identified a particular area of the left hemisphere that plays a primary role in speech production. Shortly afterwards, a German neurologist, Carl Wernicke, identified another part of the left hemisphere primarily concerned with language comprehension.

Most humans (but not all) have left hemisphere specialization for language abilities. The only direct tests for speech lateralization are too invasive to use on healthy people, so most of what we know in this area comes from clinical reports of people with brain injuries or diseases. Based on these data, and on indirect measures, we estimate that between 70% to 95% of humans have a left-hemisphere language specialization. That means that some unknown percentage of humans (maybe 5% to 30%) have anomalous patterns of specialization. These might include: (a) having a right-hemisphere language specialization or (b) having little lateralized specialization. The more one knows about the neurological mechanisms underlying language abilities, the more complicated these issues become. For instance, some language functions (like prosody-- the emotive content of speech) is specialized in the right hemisphere of people with left-hemisphere language specializations. The bottom line is that, despite overly-simplistic descriptions of left-brain / right-brain stuff one finds in introductory textbooks and the public press, there is still a great deal about brain lateralization that we simply do not yet understand.

  WHAT IS HANDEDNESS?

«Handedness» is a vague term, and can mean many things to many people. Most people in our society define handedness as the hand you use for writing. Within the scientific community, the vagueness of this term has led to much debate. Researchers define handedness based on different theoretical assumptions. For instance, some define handedness as (a) the hand that performs faster or more precisely on manual tests, while others define it as (b) the hand that one prefers to use, regardless of performance. Some think that there are two types of handedness: (a) either left or right, or (b) either right or non-right, while others think there should be three categories (to include ambidexterity). Some think there are two different kinds of ambidexterity. Some think that handedness should not be lumped into 2 or 3 or 5 categories, but rather measured along a scale of a continuum. These are just examples of a few of the differing criteria for handedness! My work attempts to resolve some of these issues.

WHAT DOES HANDEDNESS HAVE TO DO

  WITH BRAIN LATERALIZATION?

The same chap that identified a region of the brain specialized for language Paul Broca (Paul Broca) also suggested that a person's handedness was opposite from the specialized hemisphere (so a right-handed person probably has a left-hemispheric language specialization). But the kick is: this is not a mirror correlation (that is, a majority of left-handers also seem to have a left-hemispheric brain specialization for language abilities). Tricky business, eh? For over 150 years, many researchers have been trying to figure out this robust-but-imperfect correlation between handedness and brain lateralization. We are still trying.

Someone who is right-handed will prefer to use this hand for everyday activities, such as writing, maintaining personal hygiene, cooking, and so forth. According to a variety of studies, anywhere from 70% to 90%[1][2] of the world population is right-handed, while most of the remaining are left-handed. A small percentage of the population can use both hands equally well; a person with this ability is deemed to be ambidextrous.

Contents [hide]

1 Why is the population right-hand dominant?

2 Left/right-footedness and ocular dominance

3 Theories explaining right-hand dominance

4 Right-handedness in society

5 See also

6 References



[edit] Why is the population right-hand dominant?

There is no prevailing theory that explains why right-handedness is so much more prevalent than left-handedness.[2]. Neurologically, the motor skills of the right side of the body are controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain, so researchers believe the explanation may ultimately be found in the differences between the two halves of the brain. For example, a recent study found that right-handers use the right side of the brain to focus on an entire image, but the left side of the brain to focus on details within an image.[3]. This observed difference, like many others, shows the effects of right-handedness but does not clearly indicate its cause.

[edit] Left/right-footedness and ocular dominance

Right handed people have been known to be left footed

Being right-handed does not always mean that the favoured foot is also on the right side. When playing soccer for instance, many people prefer using their left foot rather than the right, despite being right-handed.[4]

People typically also have a dominant eye, a preference known as ocular dominance. There is only a weak correlation between being right handed and left eyed. [5]

[edit] Theories explaining right-hand dominance

Main article: Handedness

Warrior and his shield theory: This theory attempts to explain right-handedness by the position of a warrior's shield and his heart. Basically, since the heart is slightly nearer to the left side of the body, a right-handed warrior (who holds his shield with his left hand to free the right hand for a weapon) would be better able to protect his heart and therefore more likely to survive.

Brain hemisphere division of labor: The premise of this theory is that since both speaking and handiwork require fine motor skills, having one hemisphere of the brain do both would be more efficient than having it divided up.

[edit] Right-handedness in society

In the past, many schools around the world forced left-handed children to write right-handed.[1] In Hinduism, the right hand must be used for all auspicious and respectful activity, including eating, giving, receiving, and worshipful offering. The left hand is used in times of inauspiciousness, as a sign of disrespect, and for wiping oneself after using the bathroom. In Islam as well, one is required to use the left hand for tasks such as wiping oneself after using the bathroom and the right hand for eating.[6]

A very good number of technological devices are made primarily for right-handers; examples of everyday objects primarily designed for right-handers include refrigerators, scissors, microwaves, can-openers, computer mice, and padded kitchen mittens (padded on one side only). Left-handed golf clubs are more difficult to find than right-handed ones. Many classical-era Japanese swords were (and even modern cooking knives are) favored to cut more efficiently for the right-hander. Musical instruments such as guitars are also set up for right-handers. Military rifles designed to be shot only from the right shoulder have resulted in injuries from spent cartridge casings hitting left-handers in the eye and head.[7]

Answer 4

i am right handed...but i didn't know this....:)

Answer 5

well, i recently had an op and could only use my left hand; consequently the right hand side of my brain died, that why i am answering such a stupid question

Answer 6

i have no idea, but i'm a lefty!!!!!!!!!!

answer mine

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 7

no it doesn't....

i guess...

lol

=p

Answer 8

right handed!!!

Answer 9

i am right handed

Answer 10

all i know is that when you use anything on your left side of your body, you use your right side of your brain, and when you use anything on your right side, you use more of your left side of your brain.

i write with my right and kick with my left, so idk.

i cant write with my left hand..

i feel all retearded when i do.

Answer 11

I am right handed but I can use both.

Answer 12

you can practise this, but if you force a lefty to write on the right, you may cause them to stutter.

Answer 13

No, it does not make you use the other side of your brain more if you switch hands for a moment. You already have a predominant hand/side: right side if you are left handed and left side if you are right handed.

While the brain is known for being able to "rewire" itself, at this time, there is no pure scientific evidence to show that if you switch permanently that you switch predominant sides.