We assessed various aspects of laterality by direct observation in children with migraine and peer controls, with special reference to the frequency of random dominance. This frequency varied with the test battery used, being lower on the Edinburgh and Oldfield inventories which measure hand-use preference, and higher on the Handedness index and Spontaneous gestural index, which explore "genetic laterality". Random dominance would seem to be a new marker of migraine in childhood, for use alongside the hyperreactivity marker found in a previous study.