title: Discontinuity in the fall of left-handedness in a French population: a May '68 effect?
abstract: The fall in the prevalence of left-handedness with age has been attributed to the effect of forced dextrality on handwriting. The purpose of this study was to assess handwriting preference in a cohort of children and adult participants in order to study the correlation between age and incidence of sinistrality. A strong preference for right handwriting across all ages with a decrease in sinistrality with age (18% in those under 20 versus 3% in those over 60) was observed. This phenomenon was not continuous, and a dramatic drop at age 30-40 years might be attributed to changes in educational management during the 1960s, especially after the events of May 1968 in France.
authors.affiliation: Hôpital Necker, Paris, France. fxcoude@tiscali.fr
authors.forename: François X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Coudé
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mignot
authors.forename: Stanislas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lyonnet
authors.forename: Arnold
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Munnich
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003068:Coercion; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012925:Social Conformity; D013223:Statistics as Topic