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CrowdScience: Why aren't we all ambidextrous?

Discussion & Talk

Why aren't we all ambidextrous?

14/07/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, Why aren't we all ambidextrous?

With a panel of experts, we unpack why some people (and animals) are left or right-handed

Why are some people left-handed? Can animals be right-flippered, or pawed? We’ve got an expert panel on left, right and everything in between to help answer your questions.

Why are some people left-handed? Why are some people right-footed? Why do some write with their right and throw a ball with their left? What does this all have to do with our brains? Why is it hard for some people to tell left from right? And what about animals? Can they be left-flippered, or finned, or southpawed? That's what a few CrowdScience listeners want to know, and we've got an expert panel on left, right and everything in between to help answer your questions.  

From genetics to culture, host Caroline Steel works to unpack what's known and what's still unknown about handedness.  

David Carey from Bangor University helps Caroline better understand her own mixed-handedness through a series of simple tests and shares some insights into what role handedness (and footedness) plays in the world of sports. Neuropsychologist Marietta Papadatou-Pastou from National and Kapodistrian University of Athens helps break down the numbers on left v. right-handedness and its cultural influences. To better understand the genetics and evolution of handedness, we hear from Sebastian Ocklenburg from Medical School Hamburg, who has investigated the phenomenon in other species. 

Throughout the show, Caroline tries to understand why handedness exists in the first place and why our species is so biased to the right. She tries to answer listener Barb’s question as to why ambidexterity isn’t more ubiquitous, and it leads to some brainy tangents. We also hear questions from listeners Scotia and Roland, and travel to India with BBC reporter Chhavi Sachdev to hear how cultural norms are not in favour of lefties.  

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Sam Baker
Editor: Richard Collings
Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
Studio engineers: Tim Heffer, Steve Greenwood

Featuring: 

Marietta Papadatou-Pastou, Neuropsychologist and Assistant Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Sebastian Ocklenburg, Professor for Research Methods, Medical School Hamburg 
David Carey, Reader in Neuropsychology, Bangor University 

(Image: Close up of group of hands raised. Credit: JGI/Getty Images)

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