The notion that lefties are smarter than righties has been floating around for some time.
While some studies have suggested there may be a link between left-handedness and a higher IQ, others have shown that right-handed people may actually have the edge.
Here’s what the research says when it comes to lefties and IQ.
The belief that handedness is associated with intelligence has been around for centuries. To understand the data, it’s helpful to know the difference between the left and right sides of the brain.
In short, the left side of the brain is associated with logical tasks and language while the right side performs more creative or abstract calculations.
“Each function, behavior, cognition, mood, somatic sensation, all of that, requires multiple areas of the brain to work as a network,” explained Paul Mattis, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Northwell Health’s Institute for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Manhasset, New York.
“This connectivity is what allows a behavior, action, or thought to occur and exist. If you lose this connectivity between areas, things don’t work as efficiently, or functions are lost,” Dr. Mattis told Healthline.
A 2007 study in the Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology found that, out of 150 subjects, left-handed participants were significantly more likely to perform better on an intelligence test than right-handed people. Right-handers also took more time to complete the test.
Another study in the journal Brain in 2019 revealed that there are genetic differences between left-handers and right-handers.
Examining data on about 400,000 people, scientists discovered that the left and right hemispheres of the brain were better connected and more coordinated in regions involving language in left-handed people.
These traits suggest that left-handed individuals may have superior verbal skills.
