HAND IT TO ‘EM Top game changing lefties as scientists discover why some people write with their left hand

Among the world’s smartest and most successful are Barack Obama, Paul McCartney, and Albert Einstein.

Left-handedness is now explained by a change in the brain anatomy.
The study also validates what lefties have always claimed: they are stronger verbal communicators than righties.

Scientists have been unable to explain why one in ten people is left-handed.

The Oxford University study studied the genomes of 400,000 people, 38,000 of whom were left-handed.

Using brain imaging, scientists identified four genetic areas of the brain that were significantly different from right-handers.

Three of these locations were connected to proteins that shape the brain.

They altered white matter tracts in the brain, particularly in language centres.

According to senior author Gwenaelle Douaud, “the left and right parts of the brain communicate more coordinated” in lefties.

The study also found a link between left-handedness and a decreased risk of Parkinson’s disease and a higher chance of schizophrenia.

This is the first time the gene regions responsible for left-handedness have been found.

As a result, some cultures perceive left-handedness as unlucky.

Several prominent lefties, notably Leonardo da Vinci and Bill Gates, have slowly destroyed this notion.

Now science has caught up, mapping the DNA structures that underpin the trait.

AOIFE FINNERAN, a proud lefty, looks at some of the world’s greatest lefties.

OBAMA

Former US president who currently oversees the Obama Foundation.

EINSTEIN

His name has become synonymous with genius in popular culture as the world’s finest scientist who discovered the theory of relativity.

GROENING

Famous leftie character Ned Flanders from the long-running animated comedy The Simpsons.

MARADONA

Argentine footballer who shared the World Player of the Century title.

JOBS

Apple’s founder believed that all “truly brilliant technical people in computers” were left-handed.

MCCARTNEY

With a music career lasting over 60 years, he is one half of the most successful songwriting duo in history.

DA VINCI

The Last Supper artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci imagined flying vehicles 450 years before the first flight.

Bob Geldof, lead singer of Boomtown Rats, established charity supergroup Band Aid and organised 1985’s Live Aid.

PELE

Brazilian footballing legend and joint World Player of the Century winner in 1999.

GATE

Microsoft founder, tech genius, and philanthropist.

ZUCKERBERG

Facebook founder who became a billionaire in his 20s.

HORANA

A Mullingar man joined one of the world’s most popular boy bands.