Academic discipline, handedness and immune disorders

Much debate has surrounded the relative contribution of genetic inheritance and environment to human intelligence. In addition, fetal hormones may influence brain development and affect the qualitative nature of intellectual skills. Geschwind and Behan, Proc. Natn. Acad. Sci. 79, 5097-5100, 1982, have suggested that such hormones may also influence both the development of handedness and the development of the immune system. Members of the faculty of the University of Oxford participated in a survey investigating field of study; handedness and immune disorders. Even amongst right-handers, mathematical academics are significantly more susceptible to rare immune disorders and four times likely as verbal academics, to have suffered from a language related problem in childhood. In contrast to previous suggestions, the incidence of left-handedness is not found to be high amongst pure mathematicians but is significantly higher amongst scientists using mathematical applications.