Linked Life Data

15382729

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/15382729

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2004-9-22
pubmed:abstractText
Right- and left-handed individuals are present in all cultures. However, while it is known that handedness is a heritable trait, little is known about how handedness varies between populations-and without this knowledge, the significance of the left/right polymorphism is hard to interpret. We reviewed the literature to assess the extent of geographical variation of throwing or hammering handedness. These two tasks were chosen because they are present in all known cultures (unlike, for example, writing), and make sense within the context of several adaptive theories on the origin of laterality, or maintenance of handedness polymorphism, which state that tool or weapon manipulation are pivotal. A total of 81 samples were found with primary data on throwing or hammering handedness, spanning 14 countries and concerning more than 1,214,000 individuals studied between 1922 and 1998. A global logistic regression was performed to assess the significance of the country of the study, controlling for several potentially confounding variables (date of the study, sex and age of individuals). Country always had a significant effect, consistent with substantial geographical variation of throwing and hammering handedness. Curiously, left-handedness frequency estimates for a given country were not always consistent across datasets, perhaps due to missing variables, such as educational level or socio-economic status. Results are discussed in the context of the evolution of handedness and the significance of the current polymorphism.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
1357-650X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
9
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
35-51
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2004
pubmed:articleTitle
Is there geographical variation in human handedness?
pubmed:affiliation
Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (UMR 5554), C.C. 065, Univ. Montpellier II, F-34095 Montpellier cedex 05, France. raymond@isem.univ-montp2.fr
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review