不要忽視身邊每一位左撇子！

我們當中中有一小部分是左撇子。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)10到15%的人天生就有當左撇子的傾向。我們知道左撇子在某種意義上是不同尋常的，也有助于他們變得更有創(chuàng)造力或音樂天賦，但我們?nèi)匀徊磺宄敶蠖鄶?shù)人都是右撇子時，是什么造就了左撇子。

The science behind why people are left-handed isn’t in agreement just yet. There have been a number of worthy studies and hypotheses put forth that deal with genetic differences and brain structure, and new research has begun to expand on those genetic and brain factors.

在左撇子背后科學(xué)上的成因還沒有達成一致。關(guān)于遺傳差異和大腦結(jié)構(gòu)上的因素已經(jīng)有許多有價值的研究和假設(shè)，并且新的研究也在拓展這些遺傳和大腦結(jié)構(gòu)上的因素。

While scientists cannot yet confirm the definite point of handedness, they do know that children of left-handed parents are more likely to inherit this trait. There are also a few new scientific clues pointing the way ahead.

雖然科學(xué)家們還不能確定影響慣用手的確切因素，但他們知道左撇子父母的孩子確實更容易遺傳這種特性。也有一些新的科學(xué)線索指明了探索的道路。

Scientific origins of left-handedness

左撇子的科學(xué)淵源

A research paper in Nature put forth the idea that determining handedness could be done by analyzing prenatal development in humans. They hypothesized that if humans are congenitally prepared to a certain handedness then this type of wiring should be able to be examined in their motor system before birth.

《自然》雜志的一篇研究論文提出了一種想法，即通過分析人類的產(chǎn)前發(fā)育來確定慣用手傾向。他們假設(shè)，如果一個人天生就有左撇子，那么這應(yīng)該能夠在出生前在他們的運動系統(tǒng)中檢查出來。

The researchers tested this through ultrasonography and the results were promising. They stated that: “We revealed that both right-handed and left-handed fetuses were faster to reach to targets requiring greater precision (i.e., eye and mouth) with their dominant (vs. non-dominant) hand.”

研究人員通過超聲檢驗了這一假設(shè)，結(jié)果也證實了這一假設(shè)。他們說：“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，右撇子和左撇子胎兒的慣用手都能比另外一只手更快地到達需要一定精確度的目標(即眼睛和嘴巴)。

This somewhat confirms the genetic factors—but there’s still more to the scientific story of left-handedness.

這在一定程度上證實了遺傳因素存在性，但關(guān)于左撇子還有更多科學(xué)原理需要探究。

Symmetry and asymmetry throughout the body

全身對稱性與不對稱性

Neuroscientists know that the reversal control in brain hemispheres tends to make left-handed people more “right-brained” (so to speak) and use this hemisphere of their cerebrum more than right-handed people and vice versa.

神經(jīng)科學(xué)家知道大腦半球的反向控制傾向于讓左撇子更加“右腦化”，并且使用大腦的右半球多于慣用右手的人，反之亦然。

A right-brain dominant person does have some advantages in a few areas, but scientists have shown that having an equal symmetry and balance between all four brain hemispheres is of the most benefit. It’s thought that lefties have an overall greater brain symmetry, but the onset of left-handedness might start elsewhere and be actually due to asymmetry in a different part of the body.

慣用右腦的人在一些領(lǐng)域確實有一些優(yōu)勢，但是科學(xué)家已經(jīng)表明，在所有四個大腦半球之間具有同等的對稱性和平衡性是最有益的。人們認為左撇子大腦整體上更對稱，但實際上左撇子可能是身體不同部位的不對稱造成的。

The motor cortex in the brain controls arm and hand movements. It sends signals from this area of the brain into the spinal cord, which then makes the movement function into motion. The spinal cord and this part of the brain aren’t connected right away. It’s been shown that before this connection is made, dominant hand preferences are already becoming apparent.

大腦中的運動皮層控制手臂和手部運動。它將信號從大腦的這一區(qū)域發(fā)送到脊髓，然后脊髓使身體運動。脊髓和大腦的這部分并不是直接連起來的。已經(jīng)證明，在這種聯(lián)系之前，用手的偏好已經(jīng)變得明顯。

Some scientists think that the root of the connection lies in the spinal cord. Researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland tested out asymmetry in the body to better understand left- and right-handedness. They looked at a rare condition called situs inversus, which means all the major organs are reversed on the other side of the body. They figured out that parts of the genetic code for this rare condition could be found affecting left-handedness as well.

一些科學(xué)家認為這種聯(lián)系源于脊髓。蘇格蘭圣·安德魯斯大學(xué)(the University of St. Andrews in Scotland )的研究人員測試了身體的不對稱性，以便更好地理解左右撇子。他們觀察了一種被稱為”鏡像器官“罕見的情況，意思是所有的主要器官都鏡像到身體的另一次。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，造成這種罕見情況的基因有一部分也會影響到左撇子。

A lot of this research could be guiding us to an eventual comprehensive overview of why some of us are left-handed, a question that has been with us for some time.

很多研究可以指導(dǎo)我們?nèi)娴亓私鉃槭裁次覀冎杏行┤耸亲笃沧樱@個問題已經(jīng)我們已經(jīng)困惑了很久了。

Famous left-handed people

一些著名的左撇子

For some reason, there has usually been a connotation of wrongness or strangeness in the etymology of most languages’ definition of lefties. For example, the Latin words sinistral (left) and dexter (right) are the root words for sinister and dexterous.

由于某些原因，大多數(shù)語言對于左撇子的定義在詞源學(xué)上帶有“錯誤”或“奇怪”的含義。例如，拉丁語“ sinistral ”(左撇子)和“dexter ”(右撇子)分別是陰險和靈巧的詞根。

Although lefties had to deal with this inherent cultural bias, throughout the years many of them have blazed forth paths that led them to riches and genius-level fame. Science is proving that growing up a lefty makes you creative and more likely to think outside the box. Here’s just a couple of famous figures to prove that fact.

雖然左撇子必須面對這種固有的文化偏見，但多年來他們中的許多人走向了富有或者獲得了“天才”的名聲。科學(xué)證明，鍛煉左手會讓你更有創(chuàng)造力，更有可能去跳出框框思考問題。下面是幾個名人來證明這一事實。

Leonardo da Vinci, the prototypical Renaissance man, took his left-handedness to the extreme. In his immensely creative brain, he created his own idiosyncratic way of writing from right to left. You’d have to look through a mirror to read his script. He might have done this just to avoid messing up the ink on the paper while he wrote.

達·芬奇是典型的文藝復(fù)興時期的人，左撇子的一些特點在他身上得到了極大的呈現(xiàn)。他用他極具創(chuàng)造力的大腦，他創(chuàng)造了他獨特的寫作方式，從右到左。你必須透過鏡子看他的筆記。他這樣做可能只是為了避免在寫文章時弄亂紙上的墨水。

Napoleon Bonaparte, another lefty, once objected to the military tradition of marching on the left side of the road and holding your weapon in the right hand. Legend says that once Napoleon was in power, he made all his armies switch sides, which then explains where our rules of the road came about.

拿破侖，另一個左撇子，曾經(jīng)反對右手拿著武器、走在馬路左邊的軍事傳統(tǒng)。傳說，拿破侖一掌權(quán)，他就讓所有的軍隊切換到另一邊，這就是我們走在左邊的原因。

A great deal of American presidents have also been left handed. Barack Obama was our latest, who was preceded by the likes of Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Harry Truman, Herbert Hoover and James Garfield in the 20th century.

許多美國總統(tǒng)也慣用左手。奧巴馬是最近一個左撇子總統(tǒng)，在他之前有二十世紀的克林頓、老布什、里根、福特、杜魯門、胡佛和加菲爾德。

While the science remains an unfolding mystery, the implications of left-handedness range from intense creative prowess and unexpected sleight of hand in both sport and politics.

雖然科學(xué)仍然是一個懸而未決的謎，左撇子的影響范圍從強大的創(chuàng)造力和在體育界和政治界當中的出人意料的一些技巧。

There is a definite and unique advantage to being left-handed.

左撇子有明確而獨特的優(yōu)勢。