THE FUSE

Around the world, 10.6 percent of people are left-handed. Handedness is a form of so-called functional brain asymmetry: left-right differences in brain function. In left-handers, the right motor cortex is dominant for conducting fine motor tasks like writing, as the left half of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. In right-handers, it is the other way around. For them, the left half of the brain is dominant for fine motor skills. There are also many other functional asymmetries in the human brain. For example, in most (but not all) people, the left half of the brain is dominant for processing language, while the right half of the brain is dominant for processing faces. Since handedness represents a form of functional brain asymmetry, it could be asked whether left-handers also show changes in other forms of brain asymmetries compared to right-handers.