Nicodemus, Koby Bryan T.

2016131527

M2 Act 1 - Chapter 5

Despite the fact that language is mostly processed in the left cerebral
hemisphere and that most individuals are right-handed, it is not entirely understood why
only 10% of people are left-handed. Numerous hypotheses have been put out,
sometimes with little in the way of factual support and occasionally with substantial
evidence against them, but despite this, they have developed into contemporary urban
myths, possibly as a result of the symbolic significance of right and left. Men seem to be
a tiny bit more likely than women to be left-handed, which is an odd fact regarding
handedness. Numerous research conducted throughout the last few decades have
discovered this characteristic, but nothing conclusive or recurrent was found.
Little children frequently use both hands equally. Early on, it seems that hand
preference depends on which hand is closest to the thing being sought after; for
instance, a child may reach for a toy on their left side with their left hand out of
convenience, regardless of their preference for that hand in the future. By the time they
are 18 months old, most kids prefer using one hand over the other, and by the time they
are three, they are unmistakably right- or left-handed. A right-handed person was
originally thought to have overall dominance on their right side of the body, meaning
that their preferred foot, eye, and ear are likewise on their right side.
Left and right hemispheres make up the brain. It was formerly thought by brain
scientists that handedness indicated the dominant hemisphere of the brain. If this were
the case, it would mean that this "dominance" should have an impact on other brain
processes as well. This doesn't seem to be the case; for instance, regardless of hand
preference, the speech centers of the brain often reside on the left side. The fact that
handedness isn't always black and white presents a challenge for academics. Others
tend to switch hands depending on the activity; for instance, some individuals write with
their left hand but open jars with their right. While some people only use one hand for
everything, others tend to do so.