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Can training to become ambidextrous improve brain function?
Michael Corballis, professor of cognitive neuroscience and psychology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, responds:
Although teaching people to become ambidextrous has been popular for centuries, this practice does not appear to improve brain function, and it may even harm our neural development.
Calls for ambidexterity were especially prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For instance, in the early 20th century English propagandist John Jackson established the Ambidextral Culture Society in pursuit of universal ambidexterity and “two-brainedness” for the betterment of society.
This hype died down in the mid-20th century as benefits of being ambidextrous failed to materialize. Given that handedness is apparent early in life and the vast majority of people are right-handed, we are almost certainly dextral by nature. Recent evidence even associated being ambidextrous from birth with developmental problems, including reading disability and stuttering. A study of 11-year-olds in England showed that those who are naturally ambidextrous are slightly more prone to academic difficulties than either left- or right-handers. Research in Sweden found ambidextrous children to be at a greater risk for developmental conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Another study, which my colleagues and I conducted, revealed that ambidextrous children and adults both performed worse than left- or right-handers on a range of skills, especially in math, memory retrieval and logical reasoning.
These effects are slight, but the risks of training to become ambidextrous may cause similar difficulties. The two hemispheres of the brain are not interchangeable. The left hemisphere, for example, is typically responsible for language processing, whereas the right hemisphere often handles nonverbal activities. These asymmetries probably evolved to allow the two sides of the brain to specialize. To attempt to undo or tamper with this efficient setup may invite psychological problems.
It is possible to train your nondominant hand to become more proficient. A concert pianist demonstrates superb skill with both hands, but this mastery is complementary rather than competitive. The visual arts may enhance right-brain function, though not at the expense of verbal specialization in the left hemisphere. A cooperative brain seems to work better than one in which the two sides compete.
This article was originally published with the title Can training to become ambidextrous improve brain function?.
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30 Comments
Add CommentI'm a little confused, what has training to be ambidextrous got to do with interchangeability of brain hemispheres? If I train to be ambidextrous - I'm only training to use my right hand instead of my left or vice versa. I'm not moving my language processing center from the left hemisphere to the right, so there is no question of interchangeability of the brain hemispheres.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you are talking about the fact of motor control of right appendages by the left brain and vice versa - I can understand that a wrench might be temporarily thrown into the mental processing wheel, so to speak. But it is a known fact that even accident victims who have lost most of their brains have been able to regain normalcy to a great degree. So the brain definitely has the ability to adapt and there is no reason why it cannot do so in training for ambidexterity. Learning ambidexterity is bound to be less taxing for the brain than losing several million functioning neurons and then having to relearn everything from scratch.
I agree. The science here is flawed. Consider cause and effect. Measuring children who are ambidextrous has little to do with the effects of training to become ambidextrous. People who are naturally ambidextrous are this way because they possess a characteristic that caused it (perhaps lack of specialization across the entire brain). This characteristic, and cause, is not present in someone who trained to become ambidextrous, or they would have been ambidextrous at the outset. Only the effect is the same. The only thing you are guaranteed is that these two types of ambidexterity are different, and they are probably different due to some characteristic of brain function. Any conclusions about one are not valid for the other.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm of the same accord with"whatsinaname" on the basic premise of handedness. Because of chronic arthritis in my hands, I've taught myself to be more dextrous with my left hand just to give my right hand a rest when needed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUsing my left hand not only helps me with the endurance to finish a task as necessary, I'm finding that my physical balance is better, and my over physical agility has greatly improved.
I research very technical material as an occupation and there has been no change in my mental status. In fact, very recently I was told that my writing skills show more attention to detail using deeper and more extensive vocabulary. I have also noticed that I am able to exercise for longer durations without extended recovery times.
Frankly, I would recommend such training.
The objective isn't to train the brain hemispheres to be interchangeable but to exercise both hemispheres equally thus encouraging whole brain thought process or thinking. However, this must be done with more than using ones hands to be effective. Breathing, vision and problem solving exercises must be used in conjunction with hand and foot exercises and audio stimulation. Some have even advocated the use of magnetic stimulation which, unfortunately, is only effective while wearing a cap which has been embedded with strategically placed magnets. The vast majority of people are either right or left hemisphere dominant and at best display mediocre thinking skills and generally process information poorly drawing inaccurate conclusions. This, of course, leads to behavioral issues, poor job performance and an inappropriate belief structure. Whole brain thinkers, on the other hand, are typically considered brilliant, particularly as it would relate to problem solving, the natural application of logic and the arts. While hemispherical dominance is genetically predetermined, exercises such as those which I've mentioned will dramatically improve an individual's brain function thus elevating that person out of the fog in which most of society resides and into the bright light of reality.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTo "littleredtop:" Handedness is a physical attribute. It only makes a difference when one consciously uses the connection between the hand and brain differently that problems arise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe ability to use both hands only aids the physical attributes of the user, if that is what is required. Brain functions change only when consciousness is applied purposefully.
One has to learn to train the hands separately from the brain to make a difference in any circumstance. It is only if one is not conscious of the difference between the two that other training methods are become necessary.
Very true. When exercises become automatic and a conscious, purposeful effort is no longer necessary, those exercises then serve no purpose as it would relate to hemispherical training. Your experience resulting from the use of both hands, while not intended to be a brain exercise, is testimony to the effectiveness of such therapy. Try breathing exercises by plugging either your left or right nostril to exercise the opposite hemisphere. First determine which hemisphere is dominate so that you can focus on the opposite to create a more balanced thought process. Good luck in your experimentation. I only wish I knew of something to help with the discomfort of your arthritic condition. Have you tried acupuncture to help alleviate the pain?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMichael should be careful here as he is broaching forbidden territory. The SSkeptic Cabal is underway on a campaign to impugn teaching strategies that link hemispherical and central motor core function with intellectual development. Regardless of the veracity of this construct in a generic sense, one should be very cautious about applying science and the scientific method inside a subject domain which has be pre-labeled 'pseudoscience, off limits' by the SSkeptic Cabal. There are serious penalties for this type of research, to your career and your reputation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI love the work, but - just be warned.
- TES
An interesting byproduct of extensive neurological damage is a phenomenon known as 'paradoxical functional facilitation,' in which damage to a contralateral brain area actually facilitates rather than inhibits the function of a given area of cortex (largely seen in motor and aural function). In brain-trauma studies, this effect is quite pronounced, though this PFF-induced neuroplasticity does not extend to simple cases of 'training' to become ambidextrous, because there is no decrease in function in one hemisphere to, via PFF, complement the other hemisphere. The motor cortex simply must adjust, with the same slow speed (actually, a bit faster, as anyone who has written 'mirror-writing' with their non-dominant hand can attest) as any other newly-learned motor function.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPractising to use your off hand is a help in doing your chores in certain circumstances how ever it won't make your brain different that's born in! what intrigues me as being ambidextrous my self is the stuttering and adds thing that they say that ambidextrous tend to have ! I have both, my exwife says that I am equally clumsy in either hand ,in my work as a pipefitter I had a lot of work in tight places, in the plants ,being able to work with either hand was an big advantage the the lack of attention span wasn't !! As far as this article goes I have no trouble understanding what lot more formal educated people are saying and I think I under stand more than what a lot of them understand. Personally I think that God has blessed me I wonder how many of yall under stand that !
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBad science. Period. Full-stop.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe correlational data that you cite do not provide even a remotely adequate basis for the causal inference you so blithely promote--that training to be ambidextrous leads to mental problems.
Given this methodological limitation, there is nothing further of merit in your claims.
Self appointed thought police? Bizarre. Are you going to release the kraken?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSelf appointed thought police? Bizarre. Are you going to release the kraken?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'll be honest and say that I haven't read the full article nor the study but my immediate reaction is to be a bit dubious that training to be ambidextrous can somehow be psychologically damaging.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPerhaps though, it's not the mere fact of being ambidextrous but how one became that way. Well into the last quarter of the 20th century many children were taught early on that being left handed was a handicap and they were discouraged from writing with their left hands lest they somehow become a "disadvantaged lefty". I am left handed and main problem being so, as I seem to recall, was having a difficult time finding the left handed pair of scissors in grade school. Otherwise I function swell. For some reason I throw a frisbee with my right hand but not well with my left hand.
I can see it now though as some concerned parent, having just read about the study, sees their kid throwing a ball with her off hand and gets all worried that the kid is somehow either damaged or becoming so by showing signs of being ambidextrous.
Having endured the unfortunate circumstance of recovering from severe burns on my legs and the proper method of training to regain balance, I learned that my brain is right handed. This alerted me that in addition to regaining my physical balance, learning mental balance might be in order during rehab. This is when I learned to be cognizant of the difference between mental acuity and physical acumen. Both have their specific importance, but each is separate and distinct in their use.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThank you for the recommendation for the arthritic pain, but I have tried them all. Each has provided some relief, but in sum, only new hands could be completly effective. Hence, the ambidextrous approach. At least I know what the problem is, its attributes and its consequences. Life can grind, but it also gives.
One thing I always find to be funny is that right handedness, and thus the left brain being better at the physical connection to your right side the the right is with the left is associated with "left brain dominance" and "the left brain being 'better'". I think this is poorly researched false dichotomy thinking. Isn't it just as likely or maybe even more likely that if the left side of the brain has an elaborate mental map to control the right side of the brain, and the right side of the brain does not have such an elaborate body control map that the right side of the brain is able to use it's spacial thinking for something else then wasted space on body control... maybe something like spacial thinking... :O .... wikipedia I know, but many good references to spatial thinking of the right brain. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_thinking .... so in other words both sides of the brain are good at spatial thinking, the left side has that spatial thinking dedicated to body control.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDiscussions of where certain activities arise, maintain and control which portions of the brain, have to be temporal at best. Clinicians, medical practioners and specialists use this information in their recommendations and treatments. However, as a person learns and ages, so does the brain, and so do locations and routes of activities. Thorough interviews and physical testing need to be conducted before any conclusions can be drawn. Not only is these data useful for identification, but are most useful for further personal information and training.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYeah, awful article. It even neglects to mention all the work done teaching those that suffer from dyspraxia to juggle. Which is evidence to the contrary of the main thesis of this article. Someone should speak to the editor.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thistheharrison - while your objections are reasonable (specifically that training to be ambidextrous may not be equivalent to being born that way), I'd point out that by using your *single* anecdotal data point (your own experience) in a purely subjective fashion as a basis to *recommend* such training, you've committed a much more egregious scientific faux pas. Mr. Corballis recommends caution and suggests that we *might* find such symptoms, whereas you recommend such training based on even less evidence than he uses.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI've seen a couple of studies in the past that did demonstrate a reduction in response time for people who trained at the reflex task ambidextrously; they chalked the loss up to the brain having to *decide* which hand to use. Been a few years though.
To:jstevewhite -- Since I have been commenting on an article in a magazine, there is no room nor intent to present my bibliography of clinical research obtained over the course of several years from credentialed authorities on the subject, along with data from my own participation in clinical research trials.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRigorous and planned exercises, both physical and mental have assisted my recovery and aid in further development. Sorry, didn't realize that I needed to footnote for you.
Seems ANY training somehow improves brain functioning.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am not a scientist but I am ambidextrous - from birth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think that it is simple evolution...if you need to use your other hand/foot/side, your brain enables you to do so. Over time one can write, function more quickly and accurately. Like you, I use my right and left hands as needed! Isn't it grand !
I am ambidextrous. I suffered a brain trauma at age four from eating apples that had been sprayed. My left cerebellum has been totally destroyed. I was told that I should be so uncoordinated on my left side that I should not be able to walk. I walk normally. I can write with either hand but since I usually write with my right hand my left hand writing is not quite as good. I excel at things like woodworking but no good at sports (too slow).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDavid McClafferty
Being able to be more than one began is always invigorating. There should be no timidity at being what we are, but we should all strive to be better than that whether we succeed or not. It's the effort in trying to be more that's makes us all better people. Life deals us really awful hands at times, but if we keep playing the cards we are dealt, statistics tells us that sooner or later we will win in some form or fashion.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCertainly ! But I was simply giving my personally tested opinion on the answer to the question 'can training to be ambidextrous improve brain function'...any kind of training improves brain function I thought...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm not sure what kind of training the author is referring to but it's pretty hard to see how training yourself to become more adept at kicking a soccer ball with your left foot or getting more comfortable using your left hand to unlock doors is going to transform your brain structure.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisShort of altering brain structure I would think that doing those kinds of things would cause you to focus on the here and now as you do things in a less familiar way. I have never heard any serious suggestions that being in the present as you do things impaired your intelligence, caused emotional problems or initiated developing attention deficit hyperactive disorder.
Granted, those who seem to be ambidextrous from birth may well have different wiring in the brain which might cause some slight variation when tested against parameters designed by people who are not so favoured.
Handedness, if that is the term, is not limited to just the hand. It also includes a marked preference for one eye and/or foot over the other as well.
Many, if not most, people have a mix. It is much less common for handedness to be consistent throughout the body.
It’s logically proper to question whether teaching ambidextrous development in any way results in a slight impairment in mental function just because ambidextrous people are slightly more prone to academic difficulties than either left- or right-handers. But let’s look at the statement made by the “Ethical Skeptic” about researchers investigating brain hemisphere links with intellectual development:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this“Regardless of the veracity of this construct in a generic sense, one should be very cautious about applying science and the scientific method inside a subject domain which has be pre-labeled 'pseudoscience, off limits' by the SSkeptic Cabal. There are serious penalties for this type of research, to your career and your reputation.
I love the work, but - just be warned.
- TES”
To me this comment smacks of pseudoscientific Maoist Materialism. One of the worse things in the world is someone with a reasonably high IQ but a one sided closed mind.
Couldn't hurt!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou are born with a brain that develops the neural connections according to the stimuli it is bombarded with. The perception of a fixed I.Q. or reasoning power is false. Most adult brains have been limited by the environment of associations. Hang with other seekers and you will enhance your intelligence to more near potential. Most people utilize only a small portion of what had been available to them while maturing from infancy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisyou are absolutely 100% WRONG. training your non dominant hand is excellent for you. ALL major sports are now working their athletes to train ambidexterously. with most people 1/2 of their body is useless. can't even brush their teeth with their non dominant hand.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thistraining your non dominant hand is outstanding for improved balance , coordination and to send blood to the brain and the create new neural pathways in the brain. it mylinates new axon sheaths in the brain.
all the greatest athletes have a high level of ambidexterity. ask venus and serena and jordan and mantle.
leading this revolution in whole brain power is michael lavery. amazing stuff he is doing. its called WHOLE BRAIN POWER. check it out.
his drills are amazing ..and it works! i know cause i did it.
hardcore training your fine motor skills and non dominant hand naturally juices up your brain.
da vinci wrote in his diary cursive mirror image backwards with his non dominant hand!
when i started training my non dominant hand and started getting this amazing feeling of WHOLENESS. and both my hands felt strong. my non dominant side felt engaged. this is why basketball is the best sport too because it promotes a high level or ambidexterity.
so true. this article is SO wrong. i am a trainer and i play sports and let me tell you, training ambidexterously makes me so much better in every way.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thischeck out the incredible findings that michael lavery of whole brain power has found. its amazing.