The developmental origins of laterality: fetal handedness
- PMID: 23765736
- DOI: 10.1002/dev.21119
The developmental origins of laterality: fetal handedness
Abstract
This paper reviews the evidence for lateralized motor behavior in the fetus around a number of key questions: does the fetus exhibit signs of laterality? when does lateralized motor behavior begin? is the lateralized preference consistently displayed? does prenatal handedness relate to postnatal handedness? and, does prenatal handedness relate to brain functioning? The evidence indicates that the fetus exhibits lateralized behavior from 10 weeks gestation, as soon as it independently moves its arms, and this is the precursor of lateralized motor behavior observed post-natally. Data is presented suggesting that the strength of laterality decreases with advancing gestation and this correlates with more efficient information processing as assessed by habituation. However extreme caution is warranted in attempting to link asymmetric motor behavior and brain function prenatally. The paper concludes that the initial developmental emergence of lateralized behavior is under genetic control and is a fundamental feature of prenatal human development.
Keywords: brain asymmetries; development; fetus; handedness; laterality; prenatal; thumb sucking.
Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Similar articles
-
Prenatal thumb sucking is related to postnatal handedness.Neuropsychologia. 2005;43(3):313-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2004.08.009. Neuropsychologia. 2005. PMID: 15707608
-
Development of prenatal lateralization: evidence from fetal mouth movements.Physiol Behav. 2014 May 28;131:160-3. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.04.035. Epub 2014 Apr 24. Physiol Behav. 2014. PMID: 24768644
-
Handedness in the human fetus.Neuropsychologia. 1991;29(11):1107-11. doi: 10.1016/0028-3932(91)90080-r. Neuropsychologia. 1991. PMID: 1775228
-
Multiple trajectories in the developmental psychobiology of human handedness.Adv Child Dev Behav. 2013;45:227-60. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-397946-9.00009-9. Adv Child Dev Behav. 2013. PMID: 23865118 Review.
-
Changing handedness: What can we learn from preference shift studies?Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2019 Dec;107:313-319. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.019. Epub 2019 Sep 12. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2019. PMID: 31521700 Review.
Cited by
-
Exome-wide analysis implicates rare protein-altering variants in human handedness.Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 2;15(1):2632. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46277-w. Nat Commun. 2024. PMID: 38565598 Free PMC article.
-
Disruption of Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Acute Ischemic Stroke: Comparisons Between Right and Left Hemispheric Insults.Brain Topogr. 2024 Feb 1. doi: 10.1007/s10548-024-01033-7. Online ahead of print. Brain Topogr. 2024. PMID: 38302770
-
In support of 2D:4D: More data exploring its conflicting results on handedness, sexual orientation and sex differences.PLoS One. 2023 Aug 22;18(8):e0280514. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280514. eCollection 2023. PLoS One. 2023. PMID: 37607180 Free PMC article.
-
Body Composition and Strength Symmetry of Kettlebell Sport Athletes.Biology (Basel). 2023 Mar 12;12(3):440. doi: 10.3390/biology12030440. Biology (Basel). 2023. PMID: 36979132 Free PMC article.
-
Stability of associations between neuroticism and microstructural asymmetry of the cingulum during late childhood and adolescence: Insights from a longitudinal study with up to 11 waves.Hum Brain Mapp. 2023 Mar;44(4):1548-1564. doi: 10.1002/hbm.26157. Epub 2022 Nov 25. Hum Brain Mapp. 2023. PMID: 36426846 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
