title: The pathological left-handedness syndrome.
abstract: A clinical syndrome of pathological left-handedness (PLH) is proposed to identify the pattern of correlative changes in lateral development associated with early brain injury in some manifest left-handers. This syndrome is believed to be caused by a hemispheric lesion that is predominantly left-sided (or bilateral asymmetric), which onsets before Age 6, and which encroaches upon the critical speech zones of the frontotemporal/frontoparietal cortex. The pattern of changes may include any or all of the following features: shifts in manual dominance, trophic changes in the extremities, transfer of hemispheric speech, and/or intrahemispheric reorganization of visuospatial cognitive functions. Although some of these correlates of PLH have long been known, they have not been recognized as an interrelated pattern of traits that constitute a clinical syndrome. Identification of these individuals, all manifest left-handers, will be shown to have implications for diagnosis/remediation and for models of recovery of function.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001720:Birth Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013060:Speech; D014796:Visual Perception; D014888:Wechsler Scales