09-21-2007, 01:09 AM
John Elliott
LEFT-HANDEDNESS has reached record levels, with a more than threefold rise over the past century in the proportion of those using their left hand to write.
A large-scale historical study of handwriting down the ages by academics at University College London (UCL) has found that the proportion of left-handers has gone up from 3% among those born more than 100 years ago to 11% today.
Chris McManus, professor of psychology at UCL, said the surge in left-handedness may be due to a reduction in attempts to coerce naturally left-handed children into using their right hands.
McManusââ¬â¢s team have reinforced the theory that left-handedness is growing by analysing film shot about 1900 which shows that only 16% of those living at the beginning of the 20th century used their left arms to wave, compared with about 24% of people today.
The 800 reels of footage of Edwardian England were taken by Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon and unearthed in Black-burn, Lancashire, in 2002. Some were shown on television as the Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon.
Study of the films also shows how difficult it is even to define what left-handedness means. Far more people wave with their left hands than write with them. Other combinations are also possible - for example, a right-handed writer might use the left arm to bowl a cricket ball.
Philip Schuman, 36, a left-handed shipping executive from Cheltenham now living in Vermont, America, said he was right-footed when playing football and right-handed when batting on the cricket field, but a left-handed tennis player.
ââ¬ÅItââ¬â¢s an advantage in tennis, as when I hit it cross court - with the forehand - it goes to the opponentââ¬â¢s backhand,ââ¬Â he said. ââ¬ÅWhenever I see someone else who is left-handed, I feel like we are part of an exclusive club.ââ¬Â
Famous left-handers have included Jimi Hendrix - who played a right-handed guitar upside-down because he believed right-handed guitars to be manufactured to a higher standard than left-handed ones. Others have included Julius Caesar, Marie Curie, and among contemporaries, Prince William and the actress Nicole Kidman.
Previously experts had suggested severe discrimination against ââ¬Ågibble-fistsââ¬Â in the 18th and 19th centuries might have caused their numbers to fall - before left-handed numbers picked up again as the fashion for coercing left-handers faded in the latter 20th century.
Twisted wire jewellery from Roman times suggests about 10% was made by left-handers, indicating that perhaps this is a ââ¬Ånaturalââ¬Â proportion.
According to McManusââ¬â¢s research, as the age of women at childbirth increases, even more lefties could be on the way because older women are more likely to bear left-handers.
Left-handedness is partly hereditary and it had been thought that left-handers were more likely to die before reproducing. The film footage suggests that the declining numbers of left-handers in the Victorian years might have been a temporary blip due to forcible attempts to make naturally left-handed people use their right instead.
Even into the 1960s some schoolchildrenââ¬â¢s left hands were tied behind their backs to ensure they wrote with their right.
McManus believes the same genes that determine handedness have a strong influence on the development of language skills. Mutations in these genes may have caused humans to evolve complex language, distinguishing us from other apes, which are left and right-handed in roughly equal proportions.
Swedish researchers found that if a pregnant woman had an ultrasound scan, her chances of giving birth to a left-handed child were raised by 30%.
While some researchers have linked left-handedness to talents such as creativity with art and languages, others have suggested its effects may be less benign. Recent Dutch research indicated that left-handed women may be twice as likely to die from breast cancer.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk...461315.ece
LEFT-HANDEDNESS has reached record levels, with a more than threefold rise over the past century in the proportion of those using their left hand to write.
A large-scale historical study of handwriting down the ages by academics at University College London (UCL) has found that the proportion of left-handers has gone up from 3% among those born more than 100 years ago to 11% today.
Chris McManus, professor of psychology at UCL, said the surge in left-handedness may be due to a reduction in attempts to coerce naturally left-handed children into using their right hands.
McManusââ¬â¢s team have reinforced the theory that left-handedness is growing by analysing film shot about 1900 which shows that only 16% of those living at the beginning of the 20th century used their left arms to wave, compared with about 24% of people today.
The 800 reels of footage of Edwardian England were taken by Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon and unearthed in Black-burn, Lancashire, in 2002. Some were shown on television as the Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon.
Study of the films also shows how difficult it is even to define what left-handedness means. Far more people wave with their left hands than write with them. Other combinations are also possible - for example, a right-handed writer might use the left arm to bowl a cricket ball.
Philip Schuman, 36, a left-handed shipping executive from Cheltenham now living in Vermont, America, said he was right-footed when playing football and right-handed when batting on the cricket field, but a left-handed tennis player.
ââ¬ÅItââ¬â¢s an advantage in tennis, as when I hit it cross court - with the forehand - it goes to the opponentââ¬â¢s backhand,ââ¬Â he said. ââ¬ÅWhenever I see someone else who is left-handed, I feel like we are part of an exclusive club.ââ¬Â
Famous left-handers have included Jimi Hendrix - who played a right-handed guitar upside-down because he believed right-handed guitars to be manufactured to a higher standard than left-handed ones. Others have included Julius Caesar, Marie Curie, and among contemporaries, Prince William and the actress Nicole Kidman.
Previously experts had suggested severe discrimination against ââ¬Ågibble-fistsââ¬Â in the 18th and 19th centuries might have caused their numbers to fall - before left-handed numbers picked up again as the fashion for coercing left-handers faded in the latter 20th century.
Twisted wire jewellery from Roman times suggests about 10% was made by left-handers, indicating that perhaps this is a ââ¬Ånaturalââ¬Â proportion.
According to McManusââ¬â¢s research, as the age of women at childbirth increases, even more lefties could be on the way because older women are more likely to bear left-handers.
Left-handedness is partly hereditary and it had been thought that left-handers were more likely to die before reproducing. The film footage suggests that the declining numbers of left-handers in the Victorian years might have been a temporary blip due to forcible attempts to make naturally left-handed people use their right instead.
Even into the 1960s some schoolchildrenââ¬â¢s left hands were tied behind their backs to ensure they wrote with their right.
McManus believes the same genes that determine handedness have a strong influence on the development of language skills. Mutations in these genes may have caused humans to evolve complex language, distinguishing us from other apes, which are left and right-handed in roughly equal proportions.
Swedish researchers found that if a pregnant woman had an ultrasound scan, her chances of giving birth to a left-handed child were raised by 30%.
While some researchers have linked left-handedness to talents such as creativity with art and languages, others have suggested its effects may be less benign. Recent Dutch research indicated that left-handed women may be twice as likely to die from breast cancer.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk...461315.ece