The main difference between the left-handed and the right-handed is the obvious fact that the left-handed use their left hand as their dominant hand while the right-handed use their right hand as the dominant hand. Research has shown that left-handed people are the minority in a world that is majorly dominated by right-handed people. It is believed that the left-handed make up 10% of the world’s population while the right-handed constitute the remaining 90%.
Left-handed people have the right hemisphere of their brain as the dominant one while the left hemisphere of the brain is dominant in right-handed people. It is perceived that left-handedness is likely to run in families (Springer, Deutsch,1998) . There are people who are ambidextrous in that they are neither heavily right handed nor heavily left handed but they can perform different tasks using either hand as easily and efficiently. It is a rare trait though it can be learned.
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Many have wondered what would make some left-handed and some right-handed. It is believed that this is a result of the interplay between the environment and genes (Brown, Hecaen, 1976) . However, division of labor and specialization in the brain hemispheres is more widely acceptable as the reason for handedness. If all functions were to be carried out in both the right and left hemispheres of the brain, energy consumption in the brain and brain size would increase.
There is a distinct variation between the brain capabilities of the right-handed and the left-handed. The left-handed are more inclined to the arts and mathematical proportions since they are able to process their thoughts, language and emotions in very creative ways. As stated above, seeing that left-handed people are outnumbered and highly inconvenienced in a world where things are made to function for the right-handed (nail cutters, scissors, can openers, student desks), they tend to exert mental resilience that may bring out their creativity. The neural fibers that connect the left side of the brain to the right side are larger in lefties.
It is believed that, since the brain hemispheres are crossed, such that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa, lefties display the characteristics associated with the right side of the brain. These characteristics include 3D perception, creativity, intuition, better expression of their feelings and better visualization. Lefties are believed to live intensely due to the perception of a wider range of emotions brought about by emotional intellect and right brain side dominance. For the right-handed people who are left-brained, they are believed to show greater prowess in logical thinking, computing, mathematics, organization and memorization.
For a long while, left-handed people have been highly stigmatized. Both parents and teachers were wrong in considering left-handedness a handicap or a sign of weakness, a kind of abnormality. Some even believed that it reflected a deep disturbance in childhood (Springer, Deutsch,1998) . Being left-handed has, to specific degrees, been considered clumsy. We can thus assume that this was due to their ignorance then, of the natural state of left-handedness as a result of cross-wiring of the brain. The results determined the harmful consequences experienced by such children in nail biting, poor concentration and subsequent poor memory, stuttering and poor handwriting. This is of course due to the fact that it would not be the natural state of that child as a result of natural cross-writing of the brain. Many psychologists have believed that left-handedness is an evolutionary weakness. However, statistics have shown that the percentage of lefties in the world has remained stable at about 10%, disputing their belief.
With the deliberate action of creating awareness of the natural state of being left-handed and the importance of maintaining such a natural state, steps have been taken to make the world a better place for the left-handed. This is shown in the setting apart of August 13 as World Left-handed Day. Companies have also started manufacturing items that are more adapted and easier for use by the left-handed such as musical instruments, school desks that can easily accommodate this minority group.
Left-handed people are believed to be smarter than right-handed people because the right hemisphere of their brain is able to process, very fast, any information that reaches it, even though in a disorganized manner. It is shown that the brain develops while the baby is in its mother’s womb and the left part of the brain controls the really powerful right side. Left-handed people therefore have the capability of developing their other side, the right brain. Thus, they are able to use both the right and the left sides of their brain equally. This ensures that they can deal with issues coming at them from all directions quite easily. It has proven to be the case in the many left-handed presidents in the history of the United States over the years (Rogers 2002) .
Some biological research has shown that left-handedness is traced to the gene LRRTM 1often associated with schizophrenia, a mental condition. Correlation studies have also shown a relationship between left-handedness and alcoholism and also illnesses such as inflamed bowels. Brain laterality in left-handed people leads them to be more prone to psychotic cases such as mood disorders and bipolar tendencies ( Geschwind, Behan, 1982). Lefties are at a higher risk of learning and brain disorders since it is much more efficient to have one dominant brain hemisphere whereas it has proven that lefties have two strong and equal brain hemispheres. However, a health research proposed that left handers have a lower risk of ulcers and arthritis.
It has been shown that left-handed people have displayed unique physiological and neurological differences (Springer, Deutsch,1998) . They have proven to be quicker thinkers as they are able to use both sides of their brains efficiently and quite easily. They are able to make a faster connection between the right and left hemispheres of their brains which enables them to process information faster. This translates into being a cognitive advantage that gives them a competitive front in sports and video games.
Lefties are believed to have the upper hand and undisputed advantage in some sports. This is because they are believed to have faster reaction times. This is especially so in interactive sports such as boxing, baseball and tennis where their right-handed competitors are no match for them due to their different physical orientation and their movements. In sports, left-handed people are used to competing against the right-handed which helps them in exercising. It is also true that lefties are able to switch hands during the game, which throws off their opponent (Hagemann 2009) .
A study in 2009 further showed that lefties tend to be naturally left-favoring in the process of decision making. They instinctively tend to relate good things with the left side and harmful things with the right side. A list was made with two columns. Participants’ in the case study were asked to choose the column with beneficial characteristics and though the right column had them, the lefties were quick to offer the left column.
The brains of the left-handed are able to organize emotions differently. Their motivation was greatly associated with higher activity in the right hemisphere of the brain. This has implications that cater to mood disorders and anxiety. They are treated using brain stimulation that helps to increase neural activity in the left hemisphere.
Left-handed people have, in one way or another, proved to be more creative. This is because they are believed to have divergent thinking such that they can determine simultaneously many solutions to a single problem, which is a great indicator of a creative mind. Further research believes that lefties have a highly more developed right hemisphere of the brain which is more involved in the art of creative thinking. A more specific idea is being broached on the correlation between left-handedness and creativity. It is perceived that since left-handed people are the minority in a dominant right-handed world, they develop an “outsider’s mindset” from a young age. This means that their self-image is cut out to be more individualistic than group-oriented, as is the tendency for many righties. This individualistic mindset predisposes them to develop qualities that have been linked to innovation and creativity. Such qualities are believed to be non-conformity and independence.
Lefties hear speeches differently. The right side of their brain is biased towards slowly changing syllables and intonations. The speech therefore sounds slightly different to them.
It is believed that lefties are more prone to fear and are therefore highly likely to experience post-traumatic disorders. It is seen that the two hemispheres of the brain have different roles in PTSD and the right side is more involved with the concept of terror and fear, and it is the dominant brain side of the left-handed (Coren, 2012) . The brain of a leftie is viewed as a fascinating phenomenon in that they are easily able to recognize persons by using both halves of their brain. Unfortunately, many left-handed people are thus excluded from neuroimaging studios because they tend to mess up.
The left handed have a more difficult time processing their feelings and almost impossible for them to process negative emotions. One may hold on to their anger while the right-hand counterpart seems to have moved along just fine. They show an imbalance in activity while trying to balance their left and right sides.
Research shows that lefties tend to feel self-conscious and embarrassed, inhibited and shy. They tend to be non-impulsive in that therefore hesitate in the face of action. It has not been acutely proven whether the left-handed are more prone to alcoholism due to brain literalism or due to the social stresses that exert them in being a minority group.
Psychologists’ have been studying approach motivation which examines the different ways in which we avoid and/or approach the social and physical issues in our immediate environment. This is a different dimension of studying emotion. It revealed that people tend to use their more prominent hand for more tasking and dexterous activities and the less involving activities they tend to use their non-dominant hand. An example is shown in the act of attacking and defending oneself. One would attack with their dominant hand and hold their defense with the non-dominant. Literature research on brain motivation highly suggested that the left hemisphere of the brain is more prone to approach motivation while the right hemisphere specializes in avoidance motivation. Thus, where right handers were highly approach motivated, then the left hemisphere is at rest. Where a leftie is approach motivated, then the right hemisphere of the brain is activated ( Rutherford, Lindell, 2011).
Since the brain is crossed to the body, solutions to disorders and illnesses cannot be treated the same way for the rightie and for the leftie. Clinical treatment for such should be specifically tailored to meet the needs of each individual according to their handedness. For the right-handed people receiving such therapy, neural activity in the left hemisphere should be encouraged as they shall benefit from it. Left-handed people receiving the same treatment in the same manner are highly prone to be more injured than helped.
The brain of the left-handed tends to carry out broader functions compared to that of the right handed. Their brain therefore develops a resilience that defies strokes and other conditions that tend to damage specific brain regions. This may however be a disadvantage to the lefties since it is perceived that those heightened and uncoordinated activities enhance widespread brain activation making them more susceptible to brain damage and mental illnesses.
References
Brown, J. W., & Hecaen, H. (1976). Lateralization and language representation Observations on aphasia in children, left‐handers, and “anomalous” dextrals. Neurology , 26 (2), 183-183.
Coren, S. (2012). The left-hander syndrome: The causes and consequences of left- handedness . Simon and Schuster.
Geschwind, N., & Behan, P. (1982). Left-handedness: Association with immune disease, migraine, and developmental learning disorder. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 79 (16), 5097-5100.
Hagemann, N. (2009). The advantage of being left-handed in interactive sports. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics , 71 (7), 1641-1648.
Hepper, P. G., Shahidullah, S., & White, R. (1991). Handedness in the human fetus. Neuropsychologia , 29 (11), 1107-1111.
Rogers, L. J. (2002). Advantages and disadvantages of lateralization. Comparative vertebrate
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Rutherford, H. J., & Lindell, A. K. (2011). Thriving and surviving: Approach and avoidance motivation and lateralization. Emotion Review , 3 (3), 333-343.
Springer, S. P., & Deutsch, G. (1998). Left brain, right brain: Perspectives from cognitive neuroscience . WH Freeman/Times Books/Henry Holt & Co.
