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(CNN) - For the first time, scientists have identified the genetic differences associated with being left-handed, a trait found in 10% of the human population.
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In addition, these genetic variants result in differences in brain structure, which could mean that left-handed people have better verbal skills than most, that is, right-handed people.
While previous research on twins has indicated that genes are at least partially responsible for controlling the hand, the new study, conducted by Oxford University scientists and published in the journal Brain , is the first to identify which genetic variants separate to the left-handed of the right-handed.
The research could suggest a possible correlation between being left-handed and superior verbal skills, said Akira Wiberg, a member of the Medical Research Council of the University of Oxford, who worked on the study.
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"This raises the intriguing possibility for future research that left-handed people could have an advantage when performing verbal tasks, but it should be remembered that these differences were only seen as averages over a large number of people and not all of them will be similar," he said. in a press release.
More research should be done to prove this potential advantage, according to Gwenaëlle Douaud, lead author of the study and member of the Wellcome Center for Integrative Neuroimaging in Oxford.
“We need to assess whether this greater coordination of the language areas between the left and right sides of the brain in left-handed people really gives them an advantage in verbal ability. For this, we need to do a study that also has proof of depth and detailed verbal ability, ”he said.
Genetic regions
Funded by the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom and Wellcome, a charity of medical research in the United Kingdom, researchers studied the DNA of 400,000 people, including 38,332 left-handed people, from the United Kingdom Biobank, a database that includes information of health of volunteers throughout the country.
They isolated four genetic regions associated with being left-handed; Three of these regions were linked to proteins that influence the structure and development of the brain. Specifically, the proteins were connected to microtubules, a component of the cellular "scaffolding" or cytoskeleton.
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The cytoskeleton determines the structure of the cells, as well as the way they operate within the body. Previous research has demonstrated the influence of the cytoskeleton on "left-right asymmetry" in other species.
"Many animals show left-right asymmetry in their development, such as snail shells that roll to the left or right," said Douaud.
By analyzing the brain images of approximately 10,000 of the people studied, the researchers discovered that genetic variants related to being left-handed were associated with differences in the white matter tracts of the brain, in particular, the tracts that connect the areas of the brain associated with language.
In addition, according to Douaud told CNN, the investigation indicated that in left-handed people, “the left and right sides of the brain communicate in a more coordinated way.
Left-handed people demonstrate "greater synchronization of the natural oscillations of their brains, and these oscillations still occur when you are inactive," he said, a synchronization that occurs "precisely again in the regions of the brain dedicated to language."
The study also indicated an association between aspects of brain development linked to the preponderant use of a hand and the likelihood of developing schizophrenia or Parkinson's disease.
Dominic Furniss, principal co-author with Douaud and a member of the Department of Orthopedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Science of Oxford, told CNN: “It has long been known that there are a little more left-handedness among patients with schizophrenia than the population general. On the contrary, there are slightly less left-handed people with Parkinson's disease than the general population. ”
The new research, Furniss said, "suggests that these diseases, along with the use of one hand or the other, are the product of fundamental differences in brain development, some of which are gene driven."
However, the researchers emphasized that the association between the use of one hand, schizophrenia and Parkinson's indicates only correlation, not causation, and that the difference in terms of the number of people with the disease is very slight.
left handed
