Left handedness does not extend to visually guided precision grasping

• Published in: Experimental brain research 2007-09, Vol.182 (2), p.275-279
• Main Authors: GONZALEZ, Claudia L. R, WHITWELL, R. L, MORRISSEY, B, GANEL, T, GOODALE, M. A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Cranial nerves. Spinal roots. Peripheral nerves. Autonomic nervous system. Gustation. Olfaction; Female; Functional Laterality - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hand Strength - physiology; Handedness; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Motor control and motor pathways. Reflexes. Control centers of vegetative functions. Vestibular system and equilibration; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Photic Stimulation - methods; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Visual Perception - physiology
• ISSN: 0014-4819; 1432-1106
• DOI: 10.1007/s00221-007-1090-1

In the present study, we measured spontaneous hand preference in a "natural" grasping task. We asked right- and left-handed subjects to put a puzzle together or to create different LEGO models, as quickly and as accurately as possible, without any instruction about which hand to use. Their hand movements were videotaped and hand preference for grasping in ipsilateral and contralateral space was measured. Right handers showed a marked preference for their dominant hand when picking up objects; left handers, however, did not show this preference and instead used their right hand 50% of the time. Furthermore, compared to right handers, left handers used their non-dominant hand significantly more often to pick up objects in ipsilateral as well as contralateral space. Our results show that handedness in left handers does not extend to precision grasp and suggest that right handedness for visuomotor control may reflect a universal left-hemisphere specialization for this class of behaviour.