Abstract
Left-handedness is a normal variant but also may result from early-life brain insults. Speech typically resides in the left cerebral hemisphere in normal subjects. In 170 subjects with past brain injuries, bilateral or right hemisphere speech lateralization, determined by the intracarotid amobarbital procedure, was more frequent in females (19 vs 5, p = 0.003) as was left-handedness (26 vs 10, p = 0.004). This could be attributed to greater plasticity or functional symmetry in females.
MeSH terms
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Age Factors
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Amobarbital
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Brain Damage, Chronic / physiopathology*
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Brain Injuries / physiopathology*
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Cerebral Cortex / growth & development
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Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology
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Female
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Functional Laterality / physiology*
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Humans
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Language Tests
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Male
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Motor Skills Disorders / etiology
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Motor Skills Disorders / physiopathology
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Neural Pathways / growth & development
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Neural Pathways / physiopathology
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Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
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Recovery of Function / physiology*
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Sex Characteristics
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Speech / physiology*