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optimization through lateralization: the evolution of handedness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2005

robert l. sainburg  and
robert b. eckhardt
robert l. sainburg
Affiliation:
kinesiology, bioengineering, and neuroscience, pennsylvania state university, university park, pa 16802 rls45@psu.edu
robert b. eckhardt
Affiliation:
kinesiology and program in genetics, pennsylvania state university, university park, pa 16802 eyl@psu.edu
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Abstract

the target article proposes that behavioral asymmetries evolved in response to social pressures, accounting for the unequal distribution of handedness across the population. in contrast, we provide evidence that human handedness reflects individual adaptations that enhance movement skill, and that the distribution across the population is best explained by a genetic polymorphism, either balanced or tending toward fixation for right-handedness.

Type
open peer commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , August 2005 , pp. 611 - 612
Copyright
2005 cambridge university press

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