Van der Elst Wim, Van Boxtel Martin P J, Van Breukelen Gerard J P, Jolles Jelle
Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
Laterality. 2008 May;13(3):234-54. doi: 10.1080/13576500701825693.
The effect of handedness on cognitive functioning has been the subject of much controversy. The influential "pathological left-handedness theory" posited by Coren and Halpern (1991) claims that left-handedness is probabilistically related to deviations from the neurological and cognitive norm. Many studies have failed to find negative effects of left-handedness on cognitive functioning, but most of these studies related handedness to cognition at one moment in time. Such studies do not exclude the possibility that sinistrality may be related to a more pronounced age-related longitudinal decline in cognitive functions. This hypothesis was tested in the present study. In a longitudinal study involving a large population sample of cognitively intact people aged at least 50 years at baseline, we evaluated the effect of handedness on age-related decline in four major cognitive domains: speed of information processing, verbal learning, long-term verbal memory, and executive functioning. The results failed to provide support for the hypothesis that sinistrality is associated with a more pronounced age-related cognitive decline. Recommendations for future studies are provided.
利手对认知功能的影响一直是诸多争议的主题。科伦和哈尔彭（1991年）提出的有影响力的“病理性左利手理论”称，左利手与神经和认知规范的偏离存在概率上的关联。许多研究未能发现左利手对认知功能有负面影响，但这些研究大多是在某一时刻将利手与认知联系起来。此类研究并未排除左利手可能与认知功能更明显的与年龄相关的纵向衰退有关的可能性。本研究对这一假设进行了检验。在一项纵向研究中，我们以基线时年龄至少为50岁的大量认知健全人群为样本，评估了利手对四个主要认知领域与年龄相关衰退的影响：信息处理速度、言语学习、长期言语记忆和执行功能。结果未能为左利手与更明显的与年龄相关的认知衰退有关这一假设提供支持。本文还给出了对未来研究的建议。
