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

Filippo Abbondanza; Philip S Dale; Carol A Wang; Marianna E Hayiou-Thomas; Umar Toseeb; Tanner S Koomar; Karen G Wigg; Yu Feng; Kaitlyn M Price; Elizabeth N Kerr; Sharon L Guger; Maureen W Lovett; Lisa J Strug; Elsje van Bergen; Conor V Dolan; J Bruce Tomblin; Kristina Moll; Gerd Schulte-Körne; Nina Neuhoff; Andreas Warnke; Simon E Fisher; Cathy L Barr; Jacob J Michaelson; Dorret I Boomsma; Margaret J Snowling; Charles Hulme; Andrew J O Whitehouse; Craig E Pennell; Dianne F Newbury; John Stein; Joel B Talcott; Dorothy V M Bishop; Silvia Paracchini

doi:10.1111/cdev.13914

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

Child Dev. 2023 Jul-Aug;94(4):970-984. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13914. Epub 2023 Feb 13.

Authors

Filippo Abbondanza¹, Philip S Dale², Carol A Wang³, Marianna E Hayiou-Thomas⁴, Umar Toseeb⁵, Tanner S Koomar⁶, Karen G Wigg⁷, Yu Feng⁷, Kaitlyn M Price^{7

8

9}, Elizabeth N Kerr^{10

11}, Sharon L Guger¹¹, Maureen W Lovett^{8

10}, Lisa J Strug^{12

13}, Elsje van Bergen¹⁴, Conor V Dolan¹⁴, J Bruce Tomblin⁶, Kristina Moll¹⁵, Gerd Schulte-Körne¹⁵, Nina Neuhoff¹⁵, Andreas Warnke¹⁶, Simon E Fisher^{17

18}, Cathy L Barr^{7

8

9}, Jacob J Michaelson⁶, Dorret I Boomsma¹⁴, Margaret J Snowling¹⁹, Charles Hulme²⁰, Andrew J O Whitehouse²¹, Craig E Pennell³, Dianne F Newbury²², John Stein²³, Joel B Talcott²⁴, Dorothy V M Bishop¹⁹, Silvia Paracchini¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
² Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
³ School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
⁵ Department of Education, University of York, York, UK.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
⁷ Division of Experimental and Translational Neuroscience, Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Program in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Genetics and Genome Biology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁵ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital Munich, Munchen, Germany.
¹⁶ Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
¹⁷ Language and Genetics Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
¹⁸ Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
¹⁹ Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²⁰ Department of Education, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²¹ Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
²² Department of Biological and Medical Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.
²³ Department of Physiology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²⁴ Aston Brain Center, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK.

Abstract

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 (N_cases = 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.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Brain
Child
Functional Laterality*
Humans
Language
Prevalence
Reading*
Young Adult

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding