Meningitis and the evolution of dominance of righthandedness.
In bacterial meningitis, forced deviation of the head and/or the eyes towards either the left or the right side reflects an ipsilateral focal inflammation of the brain. Also, the symptom of forced deviation is associated with a high fatality and sequelae rate. In this study it was observed that, among 2124 Dutch patients with bacterial meningitis, forced deviation was significantly more often to the right than to the left. Because the right hemisphere is dominant for motor functions in natural lefthanders, it was concluded that bacterial meningitis might have been a selection mechanism favouring the evolution of a dominance of righthandedness.
Bol
P
P
Netherlands' Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis (WHO Collaborative Centre) of the Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam.
Scheirs
J
J
Spanjaard
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome