Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T21:27:01.287Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is there any relationship between right and left hand dominance and right and left nasal airflow dominance?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

A Price  and
R Eccles
A Price
Affiliation:
Common Cold Centre, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
R Eccles*
Affiliation:
Common Cold Centre, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Prof R Eccles, Common Cold Centre, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, Wales, UK Fax: +44 (0)29 2087 4093 E-mail: eccles@cardiff.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Left- or right-handedness is a common human trait, and it has been previously reported that human nasal airflow dominance correlates with hand dominance. Any relationship between hand dominance and nasal airflow dominance would be unusual. This study aimed to measure nasal airflow and look for any relationship to handedness.

Methods:

The modified Glatzel mirror was used to record the dominant nasal passage at 15-minute intervals over a 6-hour period in 29 healthy participants consisting of 15 left-handers and 14 right-handers.

Results:

In left-handers, the percentage of time that the left nasal passage was dominant ranged from 0 to 100 per cent. In right-handers, the percentage of time that the right nasal passage was dominant ranged from 4.2 to 95.8 per cent. No correlation between nasal airflow dominance and hand dominance was identified.

Conclusion:

The results do not support the hypothesis that nasal airflow and handedness are related.

Keywords

NoseAirway ResistanceRespiratory AirflowFunctional Laterality
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 131 , Issue 10 , October 2017 , pp. 846 - 852
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Searleman, A, Hornung, DE, Stein, E, Brzuszkiewicz, L. Nostril dominance: differences in nasal airflow and preferred handedness. Laterality 2005;10:111–20Google Scholar
2 Bourassa, DC, McManus, IC, Bryden, MP. Handedness and eye-dominance: a meta-analysis of their relationship. Laterality 1996;1:5–34 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3 McManus, IC. The history and geography of human handedness. In: Sommer, I, Khan, RS, eds. Language Lateralisation and Psychosis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009;37–58 Google Scholar
4 McManus, IC, Bryden, MP. The genetics of handedness, cerebral dominance, and lateralization. In: Rapin, I, Segalowitz, S, eds. Handbook of Neuropsychology, Vol 6. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers, 1992;115–44Google Scholar
5 Corballis, MC, Badzakova-Trajkov, G, Häberling, IS. Right hand, left brain: genetic and evolutionary bases of cerebral asymmetries for language and manual action. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci 2012;3:1–17 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6 Veale, JF. Edinburgh Handedness Inventory - Short Form: a revised version based on confirmatory factor analysis. Laterality 2014;19:164–77Google Scholar
7 Gertner, R, Podoshin, L, Fradis, M. A simple method of measuring the nasal airway in clinical work. J Laryngol Otol 1984;98:351–5Google Scholar
8 Brescovici, S, Roithmann, R. Modified Glatzel mirror test reproducibility in the evaluation of nasal patency. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol 2008;74:215–22Google Scholar
9 Eccles, R, Tolley, NS. The effect of alcohol ingestion upon nasal airway resistance. Rhinology 1987;25:245–8Google Scholar
10 Hasegawa, M, Kern, EB. The effect of breath holding, hyperventilation, and exercise on nasal resistance. Rhinology 1978;16:243–9Google Scholar
11 Babatola, FD. Reciprocal changes in nasal resistance in response to changes in posture. Rhinology 1998;36:69–72 Google Scholar
12 Gilbert, AN, Rosenwasser, AM. Biological rhythmicity of nasal airway patency: a re-examination of the “nasal cycle.” Acta Otolaryngol 1987;104:180–6Google Scholar
13 Williams, M, Eccles, R. A model for the central control of airflow patterns within the human nasal cycle. J Laryngol Otol 2016;130:82–8Google Scholar
14 Annett, M. The distribution of manual asymmetry. Br J Psychol 1972;63:343–58CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15 Annett, M. The right shift theory of handedness and brain asymmetry in evolution, development and psychopathology. Cogn Brain Behav 2006;10:235–50Google Scholar
16 Ozan, E, Dane, S, Yildirim, S, Tatar, A, Tanisman, S, Yazici, AB et al. Nasal cycle in schizophrenia: left nostril dominance may be associated with cerebral lateralization abnormality and left hemisphere dysfunction. Neurol Psychiatry Brain Res 2009;16:135–8Google Scholar