Being ambidextrous
To date, there is little known information that explains the fact that a person is ambidextrous and able to use both hands just the same. Some researchers have hypothesized that ambidexterity may in fact be explained by a manifestation of a different pattern of dominance which makes it difficult to identify which hemisphere is actually dominant.
Interesting numbers
- There are 30% of real lefties at birth and 10% remain in adulthood.
- Two left-handed parents give birth to a lefty in 46% of cases.
- One left-handed parent gives birth to a lefty in 17% of cases.
- Ambidexterity is often lost in school or parents request the child uses only the right hand.
- A study of human fetal ultrasound revealed that about 8% of fetuses suck their thumbs in the womb. 92% of them suck their right thumb while 8% suck their left. In almost all cases, this trend left/right is confirmed when the baby is born.
- Studies tend to show that if both parents are right-handed they have a 10% chance of having a child who is left-handed.
- With lefties, their left side is not necessarily always dominant: indeed, 43% of lefties have a dominant right eye and only 45% of lefties will actually kick a ball with their left foot. For right-handed people, 95% will use their right side for their hands and feet.
- There are a little bit more left-handed men (12.5%) than women (10%).
Sources: RIRE, Hebdo-Web, My child’s development by Éditions du CHU Sainte-Justine, Santemagazine.fr.
