title: Vertebral artery dominance and hand preference: is there a correlation?
abstract: The two vertebral arteries are usually unequal in size, the left one being generally larger than the right one. It is not clear why this asymmetry exists. One of the hypotheses is that this asymmetry is related to the vascular requirements of the brain. To support this statement, we investigated the correlation between a dominant left vertebral artery and right-handedness and vice versa. No correlation between differences in vertebral artery diameter and hand dominance was found. Hence, the hypothesis that a dominant left vertebral artery is associated with right-handedness and vice versa cannot be confirmed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Ghent University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, 6K3, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. barbara.cagnie@ugent.be
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cagnie
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petrovic
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Voet
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barbaix
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cambier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000098:blood supply*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D019581:Neuropil / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology*