Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Design, Fabrication, and Administration of the Hand Active Sensation Test (HASTe)
07:54

Design, Fabrication, and Administration of the Hand Active Sensation Test (HASTe)

Published on: September 8, 2015

Left-handedness and life expectancy

W P London1

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH 03755.

Perceptual and Motor Skills
|June 1, 1989
PubMed

Insights

Left-handedness is associated with a shorter lifespan, potentially due to links with major causes of death like alcoholism, smoking, and cancer, as well as certain neurological and immune conditions.

Area of Science:

  • Health Sciences
  • Epidemiology
  • Human Biology

Background:

  • Recent research by Halpern and Coren suggests a correlation between left-handedness and reduced life expectancy.
  • This association is supported by existing literature linking left-handedness to various health risks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the potential reasons behind the observed association between left-handedness and lower life expectancy.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing epidemiological data and scientific literature.
  • Analysis of studies linking handedness to mortality factors.

Main Results:

  • Left-handedness has been previously associated with increased risks of alcoholism and smoking.
  • Links exist between left-handedness and certain neurological disorders (e.g., developmental disorders) and immune system dysfunctions.
  • Breast cancer risk has also been investigated in relation to handedness.

Conclusions:

  • The association between left-handedness and lower life expectancy may be multifactorial.
  • Further research is warranted to fully elucidate the complex relationship between handedness, health outcomes, and longevity.

More Related Videos

Efficiently Recording the Eye-Hand Coordination to Incoordination Spectrum07:30

Efficiently Recording the Eye-Hand Coordination to Incoordination Spectrum

Published on: March 21, 2019

Block Building Task Identifies Distinct Groups of Left/Right-hand Choice Patterns After Unilateral Peripheral Nerve Injury07:06

Block Building Task Identifies Distinct Groups of Left/Right-hand Choice Patterns After Unilateral Peripheral Nerve Injury

Published on: March 21, 2025

Related Concept Videos

Genetic Lingo01:11

Genetic Lingo

Overview
Life Histories01:29

Life Histories

Constrained by limited energy and resources, organisms must compromise between offspring quantity and parental investment. This trade-off is represented by two primary reproductive strategies; K-strategists produce few offspring but provide substantial parental support, whereas r-strategists produce much progeny that receives little care. These strategies are related to an organism’s survival likelihood across its lifespan, which is represented by a survivorship curve. Three general types of...
Longitudinal Research02:20

Longitudinal Research

Sometimes we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. When we test the same group of individuals repeatedly over an extended period of time, we are conducting longitudinal research. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time. For example, we may survey a group of individuals about their dietary habits at age 20, retest them a decade later at age 30, and then again...
Lethal Alleles02:41

Lethal Alleles

Agouti: A Lethal Allele
Lucien Cuénot discovered lethal alleles in 1905 while studying the inheritance of coat color in mice. The agouti gene is responsible for the color of the coat in mice. This gene codes for an agouti-signaling protein, which is responsible for melanin distribution in mammals. The wild-type allele gives rise to gray-brown coat color in mice, while the mutant allele gives rise to yellow coat color. In addition to coat color, the agouti gene is associated with the yellow...
Lateralization01:28

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.
Huntington Disease l: Introduction01:21

Huntington Disease l: Introduction

Huntington disease or HD is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorder inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern.PathophysiologyIt is caused by expansion of the CAG trinucleotide repeat in the HTT gene on chromosome 4 (4p16.3), producing an abnormal huntingtin protein with an expanded polyglutamine tract. This misfolded protein disrupts cellular function, leading to neuronal death. Normal alleles have ≤26 repeats, 27–35 are intermediate (risk of expansion), 36–39 show reduced penetrance,...