The influence of M. P. Bryden's work on lateralization of motor skill: Is the preferred hand selected for and better at tasks requiring a high degree of skill?

ABSTRACT

One question of interest to Dr M. P. Bryden was how skilled motor behaviour, task complexity, and the degree of handedness are linked. His research suggested that there would be dissociation between hand preference and performance for skilled versus unskilled actions. The thought was that “simple” or unskilled tasks such reaching or grasping could be performed equally well by either hand, and thus either could be selected. Skilled tasks such as fine manipulation would be performed best by the preferred hand and thus it would be selected more frequently. Over the past two decades, researchers have attempted to determine whether such a definition of skilled action best encapsulates the specialization of the preferred hand. The current paper will review M. P. Bryden's research on skilled motor behaviour, as well as more recent work, and explore the question of whether the preferred hand is actually superior and preferred for actions requiring manipulation.

KEYWORDS:

• Motor laterality
• Skilled behaviour
• Handedness
• Hand performance

Acknowledgements

I must extend a debt of gratitude to Dr Eric A. Roy, who after my father's death encouraged me, guided me, and helped foster my work within the area of motor control and the lateralization of motor function.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [222855-2011-RGPIN].