What Causes Some People to Be Left-Handed? Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan

If you are left-handed, you would probably agree that getting around in daily life is difficult. And if you’re not, you’d know how challenging it is for your left-handed buddies to play or study every day.

Desks, spiral-bound notebooks, and even a pair of scissors are just a few items that are made with right-handed users in mind. Even while some are produced specifically for the former, they are typically made for their right-handed counterparts. However, have you ever questioned why some people are left-handed? Is it merely a habit that people pick up, or is it anything biological?

Is there a gene for left-handedness?

Some of you may have read that lefties are biologically left-handed. Its relationship to genetics is explained by a number of ideas. In reality, it has long been hypothesised by experts that the ability to move to the left and right is controlled by a specific gene. Additionally, ongoing study has been done on it. Researchers from Oxford University published their findings on the relationship between left-handedness and DNA as recently as 2019. We appear to have a small genetic abnormality that causes us to be left-handed.

The genes inherited from parents have a role to play in the rise of the dominant hand, according to research findings from a study of 4,000 000 people published in the neurology journal Brain. Some studies also indicate that this feature is influenced by a number of genes, typically up to 40. Not everything, though, is attributable to genes.

The likelihood that someone is left-handed is 25% hereditary. Everything outside of DNA that makes up the remaining 75% is determined by the environment. If you were requested to change your handedness when you were young, it probably had a lasting effect.

Is it unusual to be left-handed?

The majority of people in the world have always been right-handed. A 10% population percentage of persons are left-handed, according to statistics.

In light of the data, it appears that being right-handed is the choice of all people. The preference also develops early. Studies have shown that foetuses favour right-sided thumb sucking even while they are developing. And this preference largely endures throughout life.

Are there any advantages to being left-handed?

Being left-handed puts you in good company. Barack Obama, Sachin Tendulkar, Albert Einstein, and Amitabh Bachchan are notable left-handed individuals. Additionally, it implies that you possess distinctive qualities. In comparison to right-handed people, left-handed people’s brains function differently and have numerous neural connections that are stronger.

Positive qualities have come about as a result of this connection:

-Your linguistic abilities may be stronger, to start. This has been demonstrated through a study done at Oxford University.

-Additionally, your memory is more efficient. This has been verified by specialists from the University of Toledo in Ohio.

-You might also be a little bit better at maths. Over 2300 Italian students participated in a study, and the left-handers did better.

Can lefties learn to use both hands equally well?

This might be a typical query. Being right-handed is simpler, as we have discussed, because a lot of the items you use are designed with them in mind. Some left-handed people attempt to utilise their right hands or both of them as a result.

The ability to use both hands to write and play sounds fairly fantastic, right? And some of them have been working hard to prepare themselves to pull off this accomplishment! According to experts, it takes about six months of consistent practice. It is also thought to have negative consequences. It might have a negative impact on your nervous system, according to studies. You might even lose some of your language, reasoning, and maths skills.