Breastfed Infants More Likely To Be Right-Handed: UW Study

SEATTLE, WA - This might not settle the rivalry between the righties and lefties, but new research from the University of Washington sheds light on how children develop handedness. Infants who are breastfed more often turn out right-handed, while bottle-fed infants turn our left-handed.

Scientists already know that infants develop their left or right-hand preference early in fetal development. But breastfeeding, the UW research says, may help infants with "brain lateralization." That's when an infant activates the part of the brain that determines handedness.

“We think breastfeeding optimizes the process the brain undergoes when solidifying handedness,” study author and UW School of Public Health professor Philippe Hujoel told UW News. “That’s important because it provides an independent line of evidence that breastfeeding may need to last six to nine months.”

The full study appeared recently in the journal Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition.

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