Are the Brains of Left Handed People Different to Right Handed People?

When I began my research into handedness, I assumed the brain of the left handed person was merely a mirror image of the right handed person. In fact, Phrenologists of yore believed both hemispheres were a mirror image of each other. We all have a mirror image of organs such as kidneys and lungs. The brain has two hemispheres, can’t the same apply?

Mistakes of Phrenology

Broca's Area and Wernicke's Area
in the Left Brain

In fact, scientists who studied the convolutions of the brain found it to be asymmetrical. The speech centre was discovered to reside in the left hemisphere only. This is known as Broca’s Area. The same area of brain on the other side has nothing to do with speech. So the function of the brain is asymmetrical too.

But in the case of left handed people, the speech centre is still located in the left side of the brain (the same as in right handed people). But it goes further than this. But let’s start at the beginning.

History of Brain Function Discovery

In 1836, Max Dax discovered that patients with damage to the left side of the brain had trouble understanding speech. This is where the notion of the linguistic ‘left brain’ began.

Little changed until 1861 when Paul Broca identified the precise location of Broca’s area, the speech centre (named after him). He noted that damage to this area disrupted speech but not comprehension. It wasn’t until 1874 that the brain cells that process comprehension was identified, called Wernicke’s areas, after Carl Wernicke. This was also in the left brain. As well as these skills, the left brain could do arithmetic and control fine motor skills.

And so for a long time, the left brain was lauded as the master of the two brains. Little was known about the mysterious right brain until the later discovery that special, music and visual abilities reside there.

Roger Sperry Split Brain Study

But in the mid 1060’s, a neuropsychologist called Roger Sperry broke new ground with his radical treatment for severe epilepsy. When all else failed, he resolved to sever the connective tissue between both hemispheres of the brain (called the corpus callosum). The operation alleviated the epilepsy but with the tissues severed, the two hemispheres could no longer communicate with one another. The effect on his patients was to say the least strange.

Left Hemisphere and the Right Hemisphere of the Brain

Sperry discovered that his patients could not vocalize the name of an object if an image of it was flashed to the right eye only (controlled by the left brain, where the speech centre is located). The only way to communicate the object, was to pick out a similar object from a box or to draw it (but only the left hand could do this, regardless of the patient’s dominant hand). The subject could vocalize the object if the image was flashed to the right eye. Sperry’s split brain research won him a Nobel prize in 1981.

Speech Recovery after Aphasia to Left Handed People

This goes back to my earlier assumption, that the brains of left handed people were merely a mirror image arrangement of right handed people. In fact Klaus Conrad, a doctor who treated hundreds of men with head wounds in World War 2 discovered that regardless of the handedness of the patient men who sustained wounds to the left side of the head suffered aphasia (impaired speech) regardless of handedness. So the brains of left handed people are not a mirror image of right handed people. 

The difference? Well, the brain function of the left handed person is less lateralized. Some left handers even have a small echo of linguistic ability in the right side of the brain (so the left hander has a better chance of speech recovery if suffering a stroke to the Broca’s Area). A small part of some Left handers’ left-brain also light up when recognizing faces – thought to be exclusively a right-brained function.

Brains of Left Handed People

So the brain of the left handed person is (on the whole) less lateralized in function. What does this mean for the left hander? MRI scans since the turn of the twenty-first century has proved this beyond a doubt. Some left handers when asked to perform a verbal task will cause Broca’s area to light up as well as a little echo on the right side. So a little of a left-brained function will be found in the right brain.

Lateralization of the brain is not so set in stone as it once was. In fact, the brain is flexible and always changing. However, on the whole, the specific functions of the brain can be found in particular sites. The right brain, however, still has mysteries yet to be solved.

Do Ambidextrous People Really Exist? Hand Dominance and Skills

As soon as dexterity becomes a demand, infants will exhibit a hand preference. Such tasks will include writing, drawing or placing pins into holes. Highly skilled tasks requiring control and dexterity will require a highly specialized cluster of cells in the brain to oversee this function.

Handwriting Specializing Skills

Study into Being Ambidextrous

During my tine teaching art, I conducted research into drawing ability and handedness and found no real correlation between drawing ability and handedness. Those who had difficulty drawing were more often found in people who performed tasks with almost equal demand on both sides of the body. Examples are the preferred leg to kick a ball, eye to peek through a telescope, and so forth. This is known as low lateralization. This is not the same as being ambidextrous, as the subject still has a dominant hand to write with.

Does Ambidextrous Really Exist?

People who exhibit low lateralization in brain function I find were also more likely to have directional confusion (between left and right) as well as difficulty in reading an analogue clock and to suffer dyslexia. Difficulty in drawing, it would seem, also became problem within this group (although not all). This confusion could be said to be reflected within the term ‘ambidextrous’, as ambi comes from the Latin word to mean ‘both’ and dexter, means ‘right’. Translated, it would mean ‘both right’.

Ability in Handedness

Yet those who exhibited high lateralization more often have good hand-to-eye coordination and suffered less from the aforementioned problems. Which brings me to the question: what makes someone ambidextrous?

I have little or no hand preference when it comes to scraping the wallpaper, sweeping the floors or scrubbing. This doesn’t mean I am ambidextrous. Michelangelo when painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling on his back swapped hands when one arm became tired and but could still paint with great skill with his right hand (he was left handed). When under duress, such as environmental influences or injury, the non preferred hand or limb can be called upon to do tasks almost as well. This also does not make the person ambidextrous genetically.

Ambidexterity Ability

The more specialized the task, the more a hand preference will be exhibited. Again this reflects on the highly specialized cells in the brain that controls the task. A specialized skill is not the same as applying strength or repeating an action. In fact, it goes further than just dexterity, as the left handed guitarist will fret with the right hand (a skillful task) whilst the other hand will strum or fingerpick.

The Dominant Hand and the Non Dominant Hand

The ‘leading’ hand is the one that can do tasks with supreme accuracy, control and pressure application with small differences with nimbleness and precision. The dominant hand in the case of the guitarist or cellist will be the one to pluck, strum, bow or fingerpick. Perhaps the ultimate in controlling pressure and direction with precision is performing brain surgery.

Specialized Cells in the Brain

So why would a task of such skill exhibit a hand preference? The answer is because this reflects the specialism of the cells within the brain that controls these tasks. These cells have been found to be concentrated and therefore located in one place. But where? The answer would be either the left side or the right side of the brain. There is little point in duplicating these cells in both sides, as this would make the brain less efficient. A hand preference would therefore reflect the fact the brain cells controlling the function will be in one side or the other.

Lateralization in Tasks

High lateralization in task performance is not so evident in animals as in man. It would seem we have evolved specialized skills over millions of years, perform speech, arithmetic and tool making. These demands would similarly evolve brain cells that would make these tasks possible (and to be located on a particular site in the brain). Take the example of Broca’s Area, the cells that control speech, located (mostly) only in the left side of the brain. Millions of years ago, these cells would have been less distinct before slowly coming together like the formation of galaxies.

Hand Preference and Handedness

So if someone tells you he/she is ambidextrous, to what extent? Tasks requiring little or no demand upon hand control and precision will have little or no hand preference. Injury and environmental factors will create the misleading impression the person is ambidextrous. Highly skilled tasks are more likely to exhibit a preference. Let’s take some examples of such tasks.

Tasks of low skill (little or no hand-preference)

Watering the plants, holding a cup of tea, scraping wallpaper, dusting, cleaning.

Tasks of medium skill (some hand preference will be evident)

Combing hair, shaving, painting windowsills.

Tasks requiring great precision in pressure application and directional control (hand preference most likely)

Putting a ball in golf or snooker, drawing, writing, applying makeup, painting a portrait and, of course, writing.

Handedness of Brain Surgeons

In conclusion, I don’t mind an ambidextrous person making me a cup of tea but not to perform cosmetic surgery.

Dexterity and Handedness

The higher the demand upon dexterity, pressure control and skill, the more likely the hand preference will be shown. I can write with both hands but my handwriting will be scruffy and take longer with my right hand. Some people may have the ability to write neatly quite quickly with both hands, but requires practice. My personal belief is that there is always a preference in hand, no matter how small, particularly in performing specialized tasks.

Easy Guitar Chords for Left Handed Guitarists: Leftie Open Chords, Barred Chords and Sharps

The guitarist who plays left handedly has a multitude of hurdles to overcome, not least to restring a right-handed guitar to make it caggie-handed. Left handed guitars are available on the market, but can be pricy and harder to find. But my biggest bugbear is trying to work out guitar chords in reverse.

Right Handed Guitar Chord Books

Reading Chords Left Handed

So-called easy chords in guitar song books do not possess the term ‘right-handed’ because it is a given But the unsuspecting left hander will be caught out, as I have. It’s hard enough reading guitar chord charts as a beginner, but the leftie guitarist has the extra difficulty of reversing chords. Simple chords like A and EM aren’t too bad, but most other chords like C7 poses a cerebral contortion, as can be seen in the image.

Left Handed Chords for Guitar Playing

I was tempted to try playing the guitar upside down, but on progression to more difficult chords, found it virtually impossible. This meant I had to restring the guitar to make it left handed, and try reading the chords in reverse. Holding a mirror to the chord chart poses several difficulties:

1 The name of the chord is reversed in the mirror and this is off-putting.

2 Positioning the mirror free-standing, so that the guitar chord is visible whilst playing the guitar.

3 Continual referral to the mirror instead of the book when trying to play a chord sequence.

4 The chord sequence and lyrics are in reverse.

Chord books for Left Handed Guitarists

To a point, I have managed to reverse guitar chords in my head after a while. I can then remember the basic chords without actually having to look at the chord chart itself, but there are always new chords to learn.

Sadly, left handed guitar books are not so easy to come by as those for the right-handed, which means that there is a smaller selection of books and therefore songs that will be included within the repertoire of the cack-handed guitarist. This means he/she will have to reverse manually the chords of a song not covered.

Left Handed Guitar Open Chords

Whilst I am unable to provide chord sequences for popular songs (copyright and space issues), find at least charts of guitar chords left-handed. The following image shows open chords (which means no barring is needed). These easy guitar chords will be encountered first off and will be included in most pop songs. Find A, C, E and G. I have included the ‘easy’ version of F chords, where only four strings are sounded out. Countless Dylan and Beatle tunes possess just open chords.

Left Handed Open Chords

Essential Bar Chords for the Left Handed Guitarist

Bar chords will be encountered next. Bar chords are those that require the index finger to ‘fret’ at least two strings of the guitar. (Fretting means pressing the string(s) down). Here I have included bar chords that occur most frequently in pop songs. Barring requires some mastery, as not only is strength is needed, but placement of the finger to prevent that horrid ‘buzzing’ sound. B and F chords are the most commonly encountered bar chords in pop songs, followed by C# (Db) and F# (Gb).

Left Handed Barred Chords

Useful Left Handed Chords to Know for Guitar

These useful chords will be encountered occasionally, and therefore need to be included within the chord dictionary. Find suspended chords, such as Asus2 and Asus4, as well as major sevenths such as Cmaj7 and Emaj7, which occur quite often. As can be seen, a long-winded chord name does not always mean it is difficult chord to fret.

Useful Chords for Leftie Guitarists

Left Handed Guitar Sharp and Flat Chords

Sharp (or flats depending on how you look at it) do not occur quite so frequently as the chords just mentioned, but will crop up now and again within even the simplest pop song. I have taken the ‘sharp’ view on labeling individual chords (as the title becomes too long).

Leftie Sharps and Flats in Guitar

Chords for Leftie Guitarists

Learning the guitar left-handed can present a mire of problems. My initial attempts at playing the guitar upside down proved impossible for certain chords. Restringing the guitar so that it can be played left handedly proved the least of the caggie-hander’s worries as the chords need to be worked out in reverse. Left handed guitar chord books are not so easy to come across. (Mirrors don’t help either). So I have included guitar chords in reverse, to save the cack-handed guitarist a headache. Each chord chart is in order of type: open, ‘simple’ chords, followed by ‘bars’, then ‘sharp/flats’ and finally, ‘less frequent’ but very useful chords.

Related Left-handed Articles

How to restring your right-handed guitar to make it left handed

Restring your Acoustic to Make a Cheap Left Handed Guitar

I had a Tanglewood acoustic guitar for my birthday a while back. Of course, it was a right-handed guitar. I tried to learn the chords upside down at first. Chords A, E and D were manageable, but when it got to F and B, I had no choice but to restring the guitar so that the strings were upside down and I could play it left handed.

Restringing a Guitar for Left Handed Guitar Playing

Left Handed Guitar Strumming

Left handed guitars are quite costly and do not match the choice available for right handed guitarists. As my acoustic guitar is symmetrical in shape (that is, it does not have a cutaway), I could rest the guitar on my lap in reverse. And so, I decided to restring my guitar so that the base E remains at the top when I am strumming it left handedly. Of course, this posed the extra problem of reading guitar chords in reverse, but this is covered in another article.

Tips for Left Handed Guitarists

Tools required for restringing a guitar are: small pliers, a mallet, a soft rag and a thin blade.

Removing Guitar Strings

Have a large, flat surface to hand before restringing your guitar. Firstly, I removed the strings. To do this, I loosened the strings via the turning pegs (at the head of the fretboard). The resultant slack allowed me to unthread the strings and tweeze them out of the holes. Do this one string at a time, or the wires could get confused.

Once the string has been unthreaded, use the pliers to remove the plug, found on the bridge, near the base of the guitar.

Repeat this process for the other five strings and lay them out on a flat surface in reverse order. Notice the slots on the bridge of the guitar have different widths, to correspond with the width of each string, from thick to thin (or base to treble).

The Bridge of the Guitar

Widen the Slots on the Guitar Bridge

The slot intended for the treble string will be too narrow for the base string to slot inside, so it may be necessary to widen this and the neighboring slot, otherwise the base strings will slide over the bridge. I teased a wider slot by inserting a narrow blade and worrying it about. (Don’t do this if your guitar is a valuable collectable). In my case, not tampering with my guitar will simply result in a guitar collecting dust in the cupboard.

Left Handed Guitar Restrung

Now it is time to arrange the strings in reverse order. I began with the

Inserting Guitar Pins

thinnest string (high E) and rested the bottom of the string over the holes on the bridge intended for the thickest string. Push the plug into the hole, snagging the string with it. Push the plug as far as it will go. Then place a piece of cloth over the head of the pin and give the head a few taps with a mallet or similar, to get it into the hole. Feed the string towards the head and thread it through the bottom left turning peg (as shown in the image). Turn the peg until the string is reasonably taut. There is no need to tune the string at this point.

Help for Left Handed Guitarists

Repeat for the next treble string. Push the end into the neighboring hole in the bridge then push the pin over it, snagging the string. Gently tap into place as described, but this time, feed the string into the middle left turning peg. 

Base E to Treble E Strings

Repeat for the other four strings. As each progressively thicker string is snagged into the hole of each pin, thread into the turning peg in the following order:  upper left, upper right, middle right, finishing off with the thickest (base E string) in the bottom right (see image below). Feed each string into the turning peg from the inner hole and turn until all strings are reasonably taut. The strings can then be tuned (covered in another article).

Cheap Left Handed Guitar

Let handed guitars may not be as widely available as right handed guitars and can be costly. I chose to restring my right handed guitar so that the strings are in reverse order. This made possible playing the guitar left handedly without the expense or fuss. The bridge of the guitar may need minor tampering regarding the width of the slots, but my ear detects no difference in sound.

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Left handed guitar chord charts