Are Lefties Better Gamers?

Ever been beaten at your favorite game by your southpaw friends? It may be inevitable. I stumbled across this piece at the HowStuffWorks site. It elaborates on a recent study that appeared in Neuropsychology. The study indicates that left-handed folks process signals from multiple stimuli faster than right-handed people because, unlike the righties who process on the left side of the brain, lefties use both halves. I'd call them ambi-brainous.

This faster connection across the brain hemispheres may account for lefties being better gamers, athletes, pilots, and anything else that relies on quick processing and reaction. The study, conducted by Nick Cherbuin of the Australian National University and colleagues, appeared in November's issue of the journal Neuropsychology. The data was gathered through experiments that presented stimuli (a dot) and had the subjects identify on which side of a line the dot appeared. Past studies have also shown that people who favor their left hand have brains that are more conducive to simultaneous, bi-hemisphere processing of information, says HowStuffWorks.

A quick look at Indiana University's Famous Left Handers page shows a handful of presidents (Bill Clinton included), a bunch of musicians (Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain), and a long list of athletes (Steve Young, Larry Bird, Reggie Jackson), but they don't have any famous left-handed game players on the list yet. They are accepting sign-ups.