Left-handed Facts

-- Did you know there are slightly more left-handed men in the world than women? One popular theory for this is the effect of testosterone on the developing brain.

-- Left-handed children tend to be more creative, but also more prone to dyslexia.

-- Studies show left-handed children to have an extremely high verbal or mathematical ability. Both of these are considered to be predominently left-brain functions.

-- Left-handed people adjust more easily to seeing underwater.

-- The following famous people were all left-handed: Albert Einstein; Beethoven; Benjamin Franklin; Joan of Arc; Julius Caesar; Leonardo Da Vinci; Mark Twain; Michelangelo; Napoleon; Pablo Picasso; Queen Victoria.

-- Verbal language functions are usually found on the left-hand side of the brain, however left-handers are likely to have language centres located on the right side or on both sides of the brain.

-- Left-handed people attain puberty approximately 5 months later than right-handed people.

-- Left-handedness is often an advantage for athletes. Many talented tennis players are left-handed, and even gladiators in ancient Rome were given special instructions on how to combat a left-handed opponent.

-- There are fewer left-handed people in the over 50s age group. Popular theory suggests this is because the over 50s grew up in a time when left-handedness was severely discouraged.

-- When a left-handed person draws a figure, they will usually draw them facing to the right.

-- Our memory of music is controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain which is the dominant side for left-handers. . Studies have shown that the talent for retention of pitch is more developed in left-handers.

-- Some of the world's most notorious criminals favored their left hands: the Boston Strangler, Billy the Kid, and Jack the Ripper.