Ambidextrous people easier to manipulate
Almost 90 per cent of people use their right hand for almost all activities, while the remaining 10 per cent is divided between the left-handed and the ambidextrous, people who switch between right and left.
Now, a new study has discovered that these 'inconsistent-handers' are more easily influenced emotionally than their right-handed counterparts, reports New Scientist .
To see whether handedness had any relationship to emotional stability, Ruth Propper at Montclair State University, New Jersey, and colleagues, played different kinds of classical music and then asked the study subjects to think happy, sad, or anxious thoughts.
Proper found that ambidextrous subjects not only reported an immediate onset of negative feelings when they entered the lab, but also found themselves consistently slipping into a new mood throughout the experiment.
On the other hand, the right-handers were far more resistant and reported less flux in emotion.
"Handedness can be a marker for how the brain is organised," said Propper.
Ambidextrous people tend to have a larger corpus callosum the bridge of neural fibres that links the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
According to Propper, the increased communication between the hemispheres could explain their greater emotional suggestibility.
Previous research have suggested that the left hemisphere is involved in maintaining a consistent view of the world, while the right hemisphere acts as an anomaly detector and tells the other hemisphere that it is time for an update.
In the case of ambidextrous people, Propper believes that the increased access to the part of the brain involved in noticing things that don't fit might make a person far more willing to change his or her mind.
The findings were presented at the meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in Boston earlier this month.
Now, a new study has discovered that these 'inconsistent-handers' are more easily influenced emotionally than their right-handed counterparts, reports New Scientist .
To see whether handedness had any relationship to emotional stability, Ruth Propper at Montclair State University, New Jersey, and colleagues, played different kinds of classical music and then asked the study subjects to think happy, sad, or anxious thoughts.
Proper found that ambidextrous subjects not only reported an immediate onset of negative feelings when they entered the lab, but also found themselves consistently slipping into a new mood throughout the experiment.
On the other hand, the right-handers were far more resistant and reported less flux in emotion.
"Handedness can be a marker for how the brain is organised," said Propper.
Ambidextrous people tend to have a larger corpus callosum the bridge of neural fibres that links the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
According to Propper, the increased communication between the hemispheres could explain their greater emotional suggestibility.
Previous research have suggested that the left hemisphere is involved in maintaining a consistent view of the world, while the right hemisphere acts as an anomaly detector and tells the other hemisphere that it is time for an update.
In the case of ambidextrous people, Propper believes that the increased access to the part of the brain involved in noticing things that don't fit might make a person far more willing to change his or her mind.
The findings were presented at the meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in Boston earlier this month.
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