Lefties across the world celebrated the World Left-hander’s Day yesterday. Now, an international group of scientists have finally discovered why some of us prefer to use our left hand over our right.
Led by a team from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University in Britain, the scientists have discovered a gene that increases an individual’s chances of being left-handed.
The research, which involved over 40 scientists from 20 research centres around the world, revealed a gene called LRRTM1; the first to be discovered which has an effect on handedness.
Although little is known about LRRTM1, the Oxford team suspects that it modifies the development of asymmetry in the human brain.
Asymmetry is an important feature of the human brain, with the left side usually controlling speech and language, and the right side controlling emotion.
In left-handers, this pattern is often reversed.
The researchers also discovered that LRRTM1 might slightly increase the risk of developing schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a disorder of the brain, which results in impaired perception and thought. It affects roughly one per cent of adults worldwide.
People with schizophrenia often have unusual patterns of brain asymmetry and handedness, so the researchers were not surprised when LRRTM1 also showed a possible effect on the risk of developing schizophrenia.
“People really should not be concerned by this result. There are many factors which make individuals more likely to develop schizophrenia and the vast majority of left-handers will never develop a problem,” said Dr Clyde Francks, who led the study.
“We don’t yet know the precise role of this gene,” he added.
Some of the researchers involved in this discovery are now planning further study on the roles of LRRTM1 in the
developing brain, and to find other genes with which LRRTM1 interacts.
“We hope this study’s findings will help us to understand the development of asymmetry in the brain. Asymmetry is a fundamental feature of the human brain that is disrupted in many psychiatric conditions,” said Dr Francks.
Led by a team from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University in Britain, the scientists have discovered a gene that increases an individual’s chances of being left-handed.
The research, which involved over 40 scientists from 20 research centres around the world, revealed a gene called LRRTM1; the first to be discovered which has an effect on handedness.
Although little is known about LRRTM1, the Oxford team suspects that it modifies the development of asymmetry in the human brain.
Asymmetry is an important feature of the human brain, with the left side usually controlling speech and language, and the right side controlling emotion.
In left-handers, this pattern is often reversed.
The researchers also discovered that LRRTM1 might slightly increase the risk of developing schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a disorder of the brain, which results in impaired perception and thought. It affects roughly one per cent of adults worldwide.
People with schizophrenia often have unusual patterns of brain asymmetry and handedness, so the researchers were not surprised when LRRTM1 also showed a possible effect on the risk of developing schizophrenia.
“People really should not be concerned by this result. There are many factors which make individuals more likely to develop schizophrenia and the vast majority of left-handers will never develop a problem,” said Dr Clyde Francks, who led the study.
“We don’t yet know the precise role of this gene,” he added.
Some of the researchers involved in this discovery are now planning further study on the roles of LRRTM1 in the
developing brain, and to find other genes with which LRRTM1 interacts.
“We hope this study’s findings will help us to understand the development of asymmetry in the brain. Asymmetry is a fundamental feature of the human brain that is disrupted in many psychiatric conditions,” said Dr Francks.