Does hand skill asymmetry relate to creativity, developmental and health issues and aggression as markers of fitness?

A remarkable feature of human handedness at the population level is specialization of the hands, the right hand performing usually better than the left. This specialization might have an evolutionary advantage, because it provides the individual and population with a wider range of skill. We therefore investigated the relationships between hand skill asymmetry and potential markers of Darwinian fitness that have been hypothesized to explain the bias in hand preference: creativity, aggression and developmental and health problems. Over twenty thousand participants (56% left-handers) completed an online survey, including a finger-tapping task to measure hand skill asymmetry. Left-skilled individuals were overall more aggressive than right-skilled individuals and rated themselves as more artistically creative. However, when assessed with a questionnaire, they were less creative on problem solving and equally artistically creative compared to right-skilled individuals, who reported more health problems. Conclusion: we found some evidence for current selection on the direction of lateralization of hand skill although the effect sizes were rather low. Strength of lateralization of hand skill showed only a few associations with fitness proxies. We suggest that Darwinian selection on hand preference (Zickert, Feen, van der, Geuze, & Groothuis, 2018. Fitness costs and benefits associated with hand preference in humans: A large internet study in a Dutch sample. Evolution and Human Behavior, 39, 235-248) and hand skill asymmetry (present study) may be attenuated in modern society

The Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVCq) in people with Parkinson's disease-Confirmatory factor analysis and advice for its use in clinical practice

Background: The Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVCq) is a short questionnaire to screen for visual complaints in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Objective: The current study aims to investigate the factor structure of the SVCq to increase the usability of this measure in clinical practice and facilitate the interpretation of visual complaints in people with PD. Methods: We performed a confirmatory factor analysis using the 19 items of the SVCq of 581 people with PD, investigating the fit of three models previously found in a community sample: a one-factor model including all items, and models where items are distributed across either three or five factors. The clinical value of derived subscales was explored by comparing scores with age-matched controls (N = 583), and by investigating relationships to demographic and disease related characteristics. Results: All three models showed a good fit in people with PD, with the five-factor model outperforming the three-factor and one-factor model. Five factors were distinguished: 'Diminished visual perception-Function related' (5 items), 'Diminished visual perception-Luminance related' (3 items), 'Diminished visual perception-Task related' (3 items), 'Altered visual perception' (6 items), and 'Ocular discomfort' (2 items). On each subscale, people with PD reported more complaints than controls, even when there was no ophthalmological condition present. Furthermore, subscales were sensitive to relevant clinical characteristics, like age, disease duration, severity, and medication use. Conclusions: The five-factor model showed a good fit in people with PD and has clinical relevance. Each subscale provides a solid basis for individualized visual care

Self-Reported Visual Complaints in People with Parkinson's Disease:A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Scientific research increasingly focuses on visual symptoms of people with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, this mostly involves functional measures, whereas self-reported data are equally important for guiding clinical care. OBJECTIVE: This review sprovides an overview of the nature and prevalence of self-reported visual complaints by people with PD, compared to healthy controls. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed. Studies from three databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science) were screened for eligibility. Only studies that reported results of visual self-reports in people with idiopathic PD were included. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-nine eligible articles were analyzed. Visual complaints ranged from function-related complaints (e.g., blurred vision, double vision, increased sensitivity to light or changes in contrast sensitivity) to activity-related complaints (e.g., difficulty reading, reaching, or driving). Visual complaints were more prevalent in people with PD compared to healthy controls. The presence of visual complaints leads to a reduced quality of life (QoL). Increased prevalence and severity of visual complaints in people with PD are related to longer disease duration, higher disease severity, and off-state. CONCLUSION: A large proportion of people with PD have visual complaints, which negatively affect QoL. Complaints are diverse in nature, and specific and active questioning by clinicians is advised to foster timely recognition, acknowledgement, and management of these complaints

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Dutch Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire in people with multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Visual complaints among people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) are common, but often difficult to recognize. The Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVCq) has been developed to screen for visual complaints in people with a neurodegenerative disease, including multiple sclerosis (MS). A previous study performed a factor analysis in a normal population which revealed an acceptable one-factor model, a three-factor model and a five-factor model within the SVCq. To increase the usability of the SVCq in people with MS, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the fit of the three models in a cohort of pwMS. RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis on the SVCq in 493 people with MS showed good fit for all the models. The three-factor model (diminished visual perception, altered visual perception and ocular discomfort) outperformed the one-factor model. The five-factor model outperformed both models, which showed that dividing the first factor (diminished visual perception) into three more factors (function-related, luminance-related and task-related) has merit. CONCLUSIONS: All models may be useful in clinical care for pwMS. The one-factor model may give a quick overview of the presence and severity of visual complaints in general. The individual factors, of either the three- or the five factor models, may contribute to a better recognition of the nature of visual complaints in pwMS and may guide further steps in rehabilitation for pwMS with visual complaints

Correction:The Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVCq) in people with Parkinson's disease-Confirmatory factor analysis and advice for its use in clinical practice (PLoS ONE 17: 9 (e0272559) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272559)

The Data Availability Statement for this article [1] is updated to: The data that support the findings of this study are available from DataVerseNL. Because of ethical reasons, restrictions apply to the availability of these data (i.e., the combination of variables can potentially lead to participants being identified). Data are available at https://doi.org/ 10.34894/V9IGKJ with the permission of the ethics board of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen (contact: [email protected]).</p

Correction:The Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVCq) in people with Parkinson's disease-Confirmatory factor analysis and advice for its use in clinical practice (PLoS ONE 17: 9 (e0272559) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272559)

The Data Availability Statement for this article [1] is updated to: The data that support the findings of this study are available from DataVerseNL. Because of ethical reasons, restrictions apply to the availability of these data (i.e., the combination of variables can potentially lead to participants being identified). Data are available at https://doi.org/ 10.34894/V9IGKJ with the permission of the ethics board of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen (contact: [email protected]).</p

Correction:The Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVCq) in people with Parkinson's disease-Confirmatory factor analysis and advice for its use in clinical practice (PLoS ONE 17: 9 (e0272559) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272559)

The Data Availability Statement for this article [1] is updated to: The data that support the findings of this study are available from DataVerseNL. Because of ethical reasons, restrictions apply to the availability of these data (i.e., the combination of variables can potentially lead to participants being identified). Data are available at https://doi.org/ 10.34894/V9IGKJ with the permission of the ethics board of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen (contact: [email protected]).</p

Replication Data for: Fitness costs and benefits associated with hand preference in humans

Anonymised dataset in SPSS (.sav) and Excel (.xlsx, .csv) formats and SPSS analysis script

Replication Data for: Fitness costs and benefits associated with hand preference in humans: A large internet study in a Dutch sample

Anonymised dataset in SPSS (.sav) and Excel (.xlsx, .csv) formats and SPSS analysis script