| Title: | A large-scale population study of early life factors influencing left-handedness |
| Journal: | Scientific Reports |
| Published: | 24 Jan 2019 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30679750/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37423-8 |
| URL: | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37423-8.pdf |
| Citations: | 118 (40 in last 2 years) as of 8 Aug 2024 |
Publication 3652
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Abstract
Hand preference is a conspicuous variation in human behaviour, with a worldwide proportion of around 90% of people preferring to use the right hand for many tasks, and 10% the left hand. We used the large cohort of the UK biobank (~500,000 participants) to study possible relations between early life factors and adult hand preference. The probability of being left-handed was affected by the year and location of birth, likely due to cultural effects. In addition, hand preference was affected by birthweight, being part of a multiple birth, season of birth, breastfeeding, and sex, with each effect remaining significant after accounting for all others. Analysis of genome-wide genotype data showed that left-handedness was very weakly heritable, but shared no genetic basis with birthweight. Although on average left-handers and right-handers differed for a number of early life factors, all together these factors had only a minimal predictive value for individual hand preference.3 Authors
- Carolien G. F. de Kovel
- Amaia Carrión-Castillo
- Clyde Francks
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 16066 | Genetics of brain asymmetry and language-related disorders |
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