Language and reading impairments are associated with increased prevalence of non-right handedness

Journal article

Handedness has been studied for association with language-related disorders because of its link with language hemispheric dominance. No clear pattern has emerged, possibly because of small samples, publication bias, and heterogeneous criteria across studies. Non-right-handedness (NRH) frequency was assessed in N = 2503 cases with reading and/or language impairment and N = 4316 sex-matched controls identified from 10 distinct cohorts (age range 6–19 years old; European ethnicity) using a priori set criteria. A meta-analysis (Ncases = 1994) showed elevated NRH % in individuals with language/reading impairment compared with controls (OR = 1.21, CI = 1.06–1.39, p = .01). The association between reading/language impairments and NRH could result from shared pathways underlying brain lateralization, handedness, and cognitive functions.

Authors: Snowling, MJ; Hulme, C; Newbury, D; Stein, J; Bishop, D

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Child Development
• Volume: 94
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 970-984
• Publication date: 2023-02-13
• Acceptance date: 2022-12-12
• DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13914
• EISSN: 1467-8624
• ISSN: 0009-3920
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR