Genetic influences on handedness: Data from 25,732 Australian and Dutch twin families

doi:10.1016/J.NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA.2008.09.005

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Genetic influences on handedness: Data from 25,732 Australian and Dutch twin families

Journal Article•DOI•

Genetic influences on handedness: Data from 25,732 Australian and Dutch twin families

Sarah E. Medland¹, Sarah E. Medland², David L. Duffy², Margaret J. Wright², Gina M. Geffen¹, David A. Hay³, Florence Levy⁴, Catherina E.M. van-Beijsterveldt⁵, Gonneke Willemsen⁵, Grant Townsend⁶, Vicki White⁷, Alex W. Hewitt⁸, David A. Mackey⁸, J. Michael Bailey⁹, Wendy S. Slutske¹⁰, Dale R. Nyholt², Susan A. Treloar², Nicholas G. Martin², Dorret I. Boomsma⁵ - Show less +15 more•Institutions (10)

University of Queensland¹, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute², Curtin University³, University of New South Wales⁴, VU University Amsterdam⁵, University of Adelaide⁶, Cancer Council Victoria⁷, University of Melbourne⁸, Northwestern University⁹, University of Missouri¹⁰

01 Jan 2009-Neuropsychologia (Elsevier)-Vol. 47, Iss: 2, pp 330-337

TL;DR: Analysis from a large international collaborative study of handedness in Australian and Dutch twins and their siblings revealed no evidence of hormonal transfer, mirror imaging or twin specific effects and additive genetic effects accounted for about a quarter of the variance.

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About: This article is published in Neuropsychologia.The article was published on 2009-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 241 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Twin study.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Cerebral Asymmetry and Language Development: Cause, Correlate, or Consequence?

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Dorothy V. M. Bishop¹•Institutions (1)

University of Oxford¹

14 Jun 2013-Science

TL;DR: It is argued that the evidence for the endophenotype account is unconvincing, not least because there is little support for strong genetic influences on individual differences in cerebral asymmetry.

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Abstract: In most people, language is processed predominantly by the left hemisphere of the brain, but we do not know how or why. A popular view is that developmental language disorders result from a poorly lateralized brain, but until recently, evidence has been weak and indirect. Modern neuroimaging methods have made it possible to study normal and abnormal development of lateralized function in the developing brain and have confirmed links with language and literacy impairments. However, there is little evidence that weak cerebral lateralization has common genetic origins with language and literacy impairments. Our understanding of the association between atypical language lateralization and developmental disorders may benefit if we reconceptualize the nature of cerebral asymmetry to recognize its multidimensionality and consider variation in lateralization over developmental time. Contrary to popular belief, cerebral lateralization may not be a highly heritable, stable characteristic of individuals; rather, weak lateralization may be a consequence of impaired language learning.

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310 citations

Cites background from "Genetic influences on handedness: D..."

...Nevertheless, the data from twin studies suggest that, as with the related trait of handedness (54), individual differences in cerebral lateralization may turn out to be substantially influenced by nongenetic factors—possibly largely determined by random events occurring in early neurodevelopment (78)....
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...Current evidence suggests that, just as with handedness (54), genetic variants may play a measurable, but relatively small, role in accounting for individual variation in lateralization....
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Journal Article•DOI•

On the other hand: including left-handers in cognitive neuroscience and neurogenetics

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Roel M. Willems¹, Lise Van der Haegen², Simon E. Fisher¹, Clyde Francks¹•Institutions (2)

Max Planck Society¹, Ghent University²

01 Mar 2014-Nature Reviews Neuroscience

TL;DR: It is called for neuroscientists and neurogeneticists to recognize the potential of studying left-handers, and to account for this variation in the understanding of brain functioning.

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Abstract: Left-handers are often excluded from study cohorts in neuroscience and neurogenetics in order to reduce variance in the data. However, recent investigations have shown that the inclusion or targeted recruitment of left-handers can be informative in studies on a range of topics, such as cerebral lateralization and the genetic underpinning of asymmetrical brain development. Left-handed individuals represent a substantial portion of the human population and therefore left-handedness falls within the normal range of human diversity; thus, it is important to account for this variation in our understanding of brain functioning. We call for neuroscientists and neurogeneticists to recognize the potential of studying this often-discarded group of research subjects.

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255 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

The Flinders Handedness survey (FLANDERS): A brief measure of skilled hand preference

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Michael E. R. Nicholls¹, Nicole A. Thomas¹, Tobias Loetscher¹, Gina M. Grimshaw²•Institutions (2)

Flinders University¹, Victoria University of Wellington²

01 Nov 2013-Cortex

TL;DR: A new measure of skilled hand preference derived from the Provins and Cunliffe (1972) handedness inventory is reported on that provides a measure ofskilled hand preference that is easy to administer and understand and should be useful for experimenters wanting to screen for hand preference.

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231 citations

Cites background from "Genetic influences on handedness: D..."

...The strong effect of parental handedness on an offspring’s hand preferencemost likely reflects the genetic inheritance of handedness (Beaton, 2003; Corballis, 1997; Medland et al., 2009)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Set-shifting abilities, central coherence, and handedness in anorexia nervosa patients, their unaffected siblings and healthy controls: Exploring putative endophenotypes

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Elena Tenconi, Paolo Santonastaso, Daniela Degortes, Romina Bosello, Francesca Titton, Daniela Mapelli¹, Angela Favaro - Show less +3 more•Institutions (1)

University of Padua¹

13 Aug 2010-World Journal of Biological Psychiatry

TL;DR: The authors found that anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with an impairment of set-shifting abilities and central coherence and no study to date investigated handedness in AN.

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Abstract: Objective. There is consistent evidence that anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with an impairment of set-shifting abilities and central coherence. No study to date investigated handedness in AN. ...

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205 citations

Cites background from "Genetic influences on handedness: D..."

...Hand preference is believed to be determined in part by genetic factors, that account for about 25% of variance (Medland et al. 2009) and in part by prenatal or very early environmental factors (Ramadhani et al....
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...Hand preference is believed to be determined in part by genetic factors, that account for about 25% of variance (Medland et al. 2009) and in part by prenatal or very early environmental factors (Ramadhani et al. 2006; Vuoksimaa et al. 2009)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Revisiting human hemispheric specialization with neuroimaging

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Pierre-Yves Hervé¹, Laure Zago¹, Laurent Petit¹, Bernard Mazoyer¹, Nathalie Tzourio-Mazoyer¹ - Show less +1 more•Institutions (1)

Université Bordeaux Segalen¹

01 Feb 2013-Trends in Cognitive Sciences

TL;DR: New findings reveal the fundamental role of lateralization in the large-scale architecture of the human brain, whose ontogenesis has begun to be investigated with genetic-heritability brain mapping.

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204 citations

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References

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Book•

Methodology for Genetic Studies of Twins and Families

[...]

Michael C. Neale¹, Lon R. Cardon•Institutions (1)

VCU Medical Center¹

31 Jul 1992

TL;DR: The LISREL Script for Rater Bias Model and Data for Simplex Model as mentioned in this paper is one of the most well-known models in the literature for gene expression analysis.

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Abstract: Preface. List of Figures. List of Tables. 1. The Scope of Genetic Analyses. 2. Data Summary. 3. Biometrical Genetics. 4. Matrix Algebra. 5. Path Analysis and Structural Equations. 6. LISREL Models and Methods. 7. Model Fitting Functions and Optimization. 8. Univariate Analysis. 9. Power and Sample Size. 10. Social Interaction. 11. Sex Limitation and GE Interaction. 12. Multivariate Analysis. 13. Direction of Causation. 14. Repeated Measures. 15. Longitudinal Mean Trends. 16. Observer Ratings. 17. Assortment and Cultural Transmission. 18. Future Directions. Appendices: A. List of Participants. B. The Greek Alphabet. C. LISREL Scripts for Univariate Models. D. LISREL Script for Power Calculation. E. LISREL Scripts for Multivariate Models. F. LISREL Script for Sibling Interaction Model. G. LISREL Scripts for Sex and GE Interaction. H. LISREL Script for Rater Bias Model. I. LISREL Scripts for Direction of Causation. J. LISREL Script and Data for Simplex Model. K. LISREL Scripts for Assortment Models. Bibliography. Index.

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3,317 citations

Book•

Left, right, hand and brain : the right shift theory

[...]

Marian Annett

01 Jan 1985

1,135 citations

"Genetic influences on handedness: D..." refers background or methods in this paper

...A number of competing ‘single gene’ models have been proposed within the literature (Annett, 1985; Crow, 2002; Klar, 1999; McManus, 1985)....
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...It is not difficult to conceptualize hand preference as reflecting the continuous and normally distributed measure of relative hand skill with a mean shifted towards the right as measured by a peg moving task (Annett, 1985)....
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...shifted towards the right as measured by a peg moving task (Annett, 1985)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Methodology for genetic studies of twins and families: Michael C. Neale and Lon R. Cardon. Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1992, xxv + 496 pp., $140.00 (hardback), ISBN 0-7923-1874-9. [NATO Advanced Science Institute Series D: Behavioural and Social Sciences, Vol. 67. From workshops in Leuven, Belgium (1987, 1989, 1991), and Boulder, Colorado (1990)]

[...]

George P. Vogler¹•Institutions (1)

Washington University in St. Louis¹

01 Jan 1993-Behavior Genetics

TL;DR: This book contains the papers and conference proceedings from a symposium of epideiiologists, physiologists, and physicians involved in research into the role of aluminiumi as an environmental toxin in human pathology, with a particular focus on therole of aluminium in Alzheimer's disease.

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1,047 citations

"Genetic influences on handedness: D..." refers background in this paper

...…the sum of all the multifactorial effects, is assumed to reflect the combined effects of a large number of genes and environmental factors each of small effect and is characterized by phenotypic discontinuities that occur when the liability reaches a given threshold (Neale & Cardon, 1992)....
[...]

Journal Article•DOI•

Survival with an asymmetrical brain: Advantages and disadvantages of cerebral lateralization

[...]

Giorgio Vallortigara¹, Lesley J. Rogers²•Institutions (2)

University of Trieste¹, University of New England (Australia)²

01 Aug 2005-Behavioral and Brain Sciences

TL;DR: It is argued that the alignment of the direction of behavioral asymmetries at the population level arises as an “evolutionarily stable strategy” under “social” pressures occurring when individually asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behavior with the behavior of other asymmetrical organism of the same or different species.

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Abstract: Recent evidence in natural and semi-natural settings has revealed a variety of left-right perceptual asymmetries among ver- tebrates These include preferential use of the left or right visual hemifield during activities such as searching for food, agonistic re- sponses, or escape from predators in animals as different as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals There are obvious disad- vantages in showing such directional asymmetries because relevant stimuli may be located to the animal's left or right at rando m; there is no a priori association between the meaning of a stimulus (eg, its being a predator or a food item) and its being located to the ani- mal's left or right Moreover, other organisms (eg, predators) could exploit the predictability of behavior that arises from population- level lateral biases It might be argued that lateralization of function enhances cognitive capacity and efficiency of the brain, thus coun- teracting the ecological disadvantages of lateral biases in behavior However, such an increase in brain efficiency could be obtained by each individual being lateralized without any need to align the direction of the asymmetry in the majority of the individuals of the pop- ulation Here we argue that the alignment of the direction of behavioral asymmetries at the population level arises as an "evolutionarily stable strategy" under "social" pressures occurring when individually asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behavior with the behavior of other asymmetrical organisms of the same or different species

...read moreread less

1,026 citations

"Genetic influences on handedness: D..." refers background in this paper

...1997; McManus, 2002) or evolved from ancestral population level behavioral asymmetries (Vallortigara & Rogers, 2005)....
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Book•

Lateral preferences and human behavior

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Clare Porac, Stanley Coren

01 Jan 1981

TL;DR: This chapter discusses human sidedness, physiology, social and cultural environment, and distributional characteristics within and across Indexes of Lateral Preference.

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Abstract: 1. Human Sidedness.- 2. Measurement.- Proficiency and Preference.- Hand Preference.- Foot Preference.- Eye Preference.- Ear Preference.- Quantification of Lateral Preference Behaviors.- 3. Population Characteristics.- Distributional Characteristics within Indexes of Lateral Preference.- Distributional Characteristics across Indexes of Lateral Preference.- 4. Physiological, Biological, and Cerebral Asymmetries.- Physiological Asymmetries.- Cerebral Asymmetries.- Biological Asymmetries.- One-Sidedness.- 5. Genetic Approaches.- Genetic Explanations for Hand Preference.- Genetic Explanations for Sidedness Formation.- 6. Social and Cultural Environment.- The Right-Sided World Hypothesis.- Cultural Influences.- 7. Birth Stress.- 8. Special Populations.- Neurological Injury.- Psychopathy, Emotional Instability, and Criminality.- Cognitive Deficits.- 9. Reading.- 10 Cognitive Abilities.- 11. Sensorimotor Coordination.- Hand-Eye Coordination.- Sports Performance.- 12. Sensory Preferences.- Eye Preference.- Ear Preference.- 13. Reformulation.- References.- Author Index.

...read moreread less

769 citations

"Genetic influences on handedness: D..." refers background in this paper

...However, differential mortality of left- and right-handers (Halpern & Coren, 1988), adaptation to a right-handed world (Porac & Coren, 1981) and changes in allele frequencies (McManus, 2002) have also been proposed....
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