Left-handers more at risk of mental illness (Telegraph)

[Joe Duffy]

[top] Left-handers more at risk of mental illness

By Laura Clout
Last Updated: 1:49am BST 31/07/2007


Left-handed people may have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, scientists have found.

An international group of scientists, led by a team at Oxford University, have identified a gene that
seems to increase the chance of being left-handed.

The researchers said that the same gene - called LRRTM1 - may slightly increase the risk of
developing the brain disorder.

Schizophrenia is a highly complex condition that results in impaired perception and thought, it affects
around one in every 100 people.

Although little is known about the gene, the Oxford team suspects it modifies the development of
asymmetry in the human brain.

In humans, the left side of the brain usually controls speech and language, and the right side controls
emotion. In left-handers, however, this pattern is often reversed. In a similar way, people with
schizophrenia often have unusual patterns of brain asymmetry.

The leader of the study, Dr Clyde Francks of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, said:
"People really should not be concerned by this result. There are many factors which make individuals
more likely to develop schizophrenia and the vast majority of left-handers will never develop a problem.
We don't yet know the precise role of this gene."

There is also evidence that asymmetry of the brain was an important feature during human evolution.
Apes' brains are more symmetrical than humans' and they do not show a preference for using either
the right or left hand.

Dr Francks added: "We hope this study's findings will help us to understand the development of
asymmetry in the brain.

"Asymmetry is a fundamental feature of the human brain that is disrupted in many psychiatric conditions."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../nleft131a.xml

[Lunar Loops]

Wonder if they took this factor into consideration in the recent 'study' of cannabis affecting the chances of developing the condition? All those left handed tokers must be quaking in their boots.........these studies really are a total crock and these jokers have received ridiculous amounts of funding to come up with these findings.

[Sky Walker]

Originally Posted by shroomonger

All those left handed tokers must be quaking in their boots.........

Oh shit, now Billy Smarts really is in trouble. He started smoking cannabis regularly, in his early teens, his mother suffers from manic depression he also started using magic mushrooms at 15 and the final nail in the coffin, Billy's left handed! Ah well, time will tell Early twentys isn't it?

[Nagognog2]

I thought it was an airborne virus caused by Psilocybe mushroom spores.

[Beeker]

Phht ... I can prove, statistically, that there are far more psychotic right handed people in the world.

[Heretic.Ape.]

I'll have to keep my eye on labmonkey... looks like it's time to go back to the days of punishing children for doing things left-handed, we should really make a law against left-handedness to protect the children from the possibility of mental illness, just like that devil's weed.

[Joe Duffy]

Isn’t the Latin word for left ‘sinister’, the plot thickens?

[Nagognog2]

They used to burn lefties. The left hand is the hand of the Devil. Perhaps someone wants a return to the good old days?

[Alicia]

Originally Posted by Nagognog2

I thought it was an airborne virus caused by Psilocybe mushroom spores.

Yeah thats what swia partner thought gee he really has a lot to worry about soon he'll be carted off as a criminal for being left handed and enjoying the odd psilo shroom base and inspiration.. no wait hes just thinking freely..THAT must be wrong.

left handed, right handed who gives a f*** does it really matter and is this based on even remotely anything serious.. people can have mental illnes regardless of handedness.

lol bs!!!

[toe]

Pre-emptive apologize- I linked this article because the sentiment of the byline just swept me away in a force beyond my own will. Unfortunately I wound up on topic somehow. I don't know how that happened and if anyone can suggest an RX to con out of my doc tomorrow to help cure this syndrome, I'd be grateful. I really is a disease, man. I'm left-handed. Please don't penalize me for it. If anyone has knows a farmer who has a dog named BINGO who mods this board, see if he'd like some diazepam-flavored puppy icecream to split this post of into more relevant bits.


Sorry so long, there's a point in here, I promise.
New Zealand Herald
Strong right-handedness linked to poor body image
April 16, 2007
By Amy Norton

NEW YORK - People who are strongly right-handed might be more vulnerable to distorted body image and eating disorders than those who are more adept at using both hands, a new study suggests.
Researchers speculate that the unusual connection might be explained by brain activity; people who consistently favour their right hand may be less able to access the body image processing centers in the brain's right hemisphere.

Other studies have found that people who are "mixed-handed" -- using their non-dominant hand for some tasks -- may have a stronger connection between the two sides of the brain. Compared with people who are strongly right-handed, they seem to have a larger corpus callosum, the bundle of nerves connecting the brain's two hemispheres.

This is relevant to body image and eating disorders because both sides of the brain appear to play a role in a person's perception of his or her own body. What's more, there's evidence from brain-imaging research that the distorted body image associated with anorexia may be related to dysfunction in the brain's right hemisphere, explained Dr. Stephen D. Christman, a professor of psychology at the University of Toledo in Ohio and the lead author of the new study.

"So we interpret our findings of greater distortion of body image in strong right-handers as arising from their decreased access to right-hemisphere-based body image representations," Christman told Reuters Health.

The findings, which are published in International Journal of Eating Disorders, are based on assessments of two groups of college students. The first group, composed of 135 men and women, answered questions about their body image perceptions and beliefs about body appearance in general.

Overall, the researchers found, students who were strongly right-handed were more likely to have a distorted perception of their weight than those who were mixed-handed. (Because few people are exclusively left-handed, the study only compared strongly right-handed and mixed-handed individuals.)

Among the 185 students in the second group, strong right-handers generally scored higher on a measure of eating disorder risk factors, including body dissatisfaction and a strong desire for thinness.
The findings echo earlier research by Christman and his colleagues that found that people who are strongly right-handed tend to have poorer recollection of childhood memories and other life events -- another effect they suspect is related to the smaller corpus callosum and less interaction between the two brain hemispheres.

However, if it's true that strong right-handers are more susceptible to body image distortion, it's not clear what could be done with that information, according to Christman. People can't change the strength of their handedness, he noted, or increase the size of the brain's corpus callosum.
However, he noted, there's a psychotherapy technique called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing that is used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. It involves side-to-side eye movements that, Christman and his colleagues hypothesize, might enhance the interaction between the two sides of the brain.
This hints that the therapy could help treat body image disturbances in people with eating disorders, according to Christman. For now, though, that remains speculation.
SOURCE: International Journal of Eating Disorders, April 2007.

I don't know about y'all, but this one just made my houseplants want to wrap their collective viney arms around my neck and strangle me.


NEWSFLASH! Livebirths with skin are 51% more likely to be male!

[personal diatribe-highlight if you're looking for a detour] I doubt there's anything but an environmental component contribution to the development of MI in lefties. They have been forced to use the non-dominant side for motor skills, which surely causes (in a lit student's words) cross-wiring. There aren't enough role models to help them master safe use of left OR right handed tools, making them clumsy objects of ridicule. They may do damn well in baseball, but I bet you my bottom dollar they names of any accomplished divers/skaters/team swimmers, dancers, or gymnasts are long faded from memory. Lefties rarely carry themselves "right", though this is something that doesn't get noticed long past the 6th grade schoolyard.


We aren't really offended when you lay down the check on the left. Unless the pen is bolted and won't reach around. We do, however, abhor clipboards. (Have to unclip, flip, and fill the sheet in upside down).


Please just open the damn can for me. I can deal with the scissors. And it watching me with a paring knife scares you- guess who's not eating?


Incidentally, my writing is perfectly legible. Unfortunately "teaching lefties not to hook" was not a required module in Early Childhood Education in the early 70's.[/personal diatribe]


Lefthandedness (hairy second knuckles) is a recessive trait. IIRC, mental illness (blue eyes) is not.1 My math is almost as shady as my science, but wouldn't that mean that +L should show up in the MI pool with the same frequency expected as +R?


Of course pretty much all MI can be exacerbated by environment, as expounded upon in thediatribe.


And lest my Pixelated Pals here feared there no reaction forthcoming the actual article, the houseplants have consulted with the AC mold and take issue with this little charmer:

In humans, the left side of the brain usually controls speech and language, and the right side controls
emotion. In left-handers, however, this pattern is often reversed. In a similar way, people with
schizophrenia often have unusual patterns of brain asymmetry.

Funny that the researcher fails to note the difference between assymetry- one portion less developed, and symbiosis-where each contributes equally and even (GASP!) communicates to promote the continued development of the whole.


Further, she seems to have been home doing gravity bongs during Linguistics 101. By the age of two, the "predetermined hemisphere" guiding the development of language is no longer relevant. In the average infant, that is. It's well known that children can begin using sign language by 6-7 months of age, and sticky baby books the world over commonly note the emergence of "Our Baby's First Word" in the 8-9 month range. Left-handed babies, included.

Pardonez sil vous plait, I must go back and wash the drool from the books I've been referencing off my hands. Will be back.

1.The rhododendrun snuck online one night and spilled one of my distant famous family connections already. Mendel is not one of them. So forgive, and please correct, if my copy of MITOSIS4DUMMIES is inaccurate. We very much prefer yellow peas, and would appreciate all the help we can get in wiping out the infidels

[Nature Boy]

"People really should not be concerned by this result. There are many factors which make individuals
more likely to develop schizophrenia and the vast majority of left-handers will never develop a problem.

Imagine..."People really should not be concerned by this result. There are many factors which make individuals more likely to develop schizophrenia and the vast majority of cannabis users will never develop a problem.

Dream on.

[Nagognog2]

Ah! The perfect remedy! Let's just cut off everyone's left hand and solve a plethora of problems!

[Micklemouse]

Yup. Bongo ever skinned up one handed?

[Joe Duffy]

I wonder if you are ambidextrous what the story would be.