A new study on left-handedness has revealed surprising insights into the cognitive abilities of individuals with this trait. Researchers at Oxford and London universities found that people with moderate handedness outperformed those with reversed asymmetry profiles in a pegboard task, which measures hand dominance.
The study also discovered a link between social difficulties and autism diagnoses among individuals with reversed left-right lateralization profiles. These participants reported more self-diagnosed ADHD symptoms. The researchers suggest that the reversal of typical left or right handedness might affect one’s ability to recognize emotions in faces, leading to increased social difficulties.
On the other hand, people with moderate handedness showed better performance in both the pegboard task and a language fluency test, which indicate improved cognitive abilities. This suggests that it is not just left- or right-handedness itself that affects cognitive skills, but rather the overall profile of lateralization in cognition.
The study’s findings have significant implications for future research on left-handedness and its relationship with various cognitive abilities. The results highlight the importance of considering the broader picture of lateralization beyond handedness when investigating cognitive traits.
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-asymmetric-brain/202411/left-handedness-and-cognition-new-insights