AnthropologicAl review • Vol. 75 (2), 129–136 (2012) Writing with non-dominant hand: left-handers perform better with the right hand than right handers with the left Kristina Laskowski and Maciej Henneberg Biological Anthropology and Comparative Anatomy Unit, School of Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia AbstrAct: Adult volunteers (7 females, 7 males) aged between 19 and 51 years, 7 right-handers and 7 left-handers, were asked to complete re-training writing tasks by using their non-dominant hand over 10 consecutive days. It is possible for adults to learn quickly to write legibly with their non-dominant hand. Left handers have a higher legibility score initially although right-handers improved with training more than left-handers. Individual’s performance was unrelated to age and sex in the small sample studied. Key words: handedness, males, females, re-training, Edinburgh Questionnaire Although primates have been general- ly found to display an even 50–50 rate for unimanual tasks, humans have been an exception as they show a right hand preference of 70–95% (Chapman and Henneberg 1999). Given this prevalence, it has been (and often is) unacceptable to write with the left hand in many plac- es around the world (Kim 2009; Zverev 2006). There is still environmental and cultural pressure against left handers. Vuoksimaa (2009) found that, in Fin- land, among older age groups, there were fewer left handers than in younger age groups, regardless of whether they were left handed all their life or switched to the left hand in adulthood. It is possible that both hemispheres are involved in controlling complex manual tasks (Teix- eira 2008). A study using ‘converted’ right handers and natural right handers shows that the sensorimotor area of the left hemisphere of the brain can be partly switched with training to the non-domi- nant hand (Klöppel 2007). Experiments in which adult individuals were retrained to write with the non-dominant hand, indicate that switch of handedness can be achieved in weeks, though no cortical activity was monitored in those studies (Chapman and Henneberg 1999; Walker and Henneberg 2007). Kristina Laskowski and Maciej Henneberg Writing with non-dominant hand Original Article: Received 15.05.2012; Accepted 01.11.2012 DOI: 10.2478/v10044-012-0012-4 © 2012 Polish Anthtropological Society - 10.2478/v10044-012-0012-4 Downloaded from PubFactory at 08/18/2016 02:25:51PM via free access