Handedness is the most obvious manifestation of cerebral lateralization in humans, but the molecular mechanisms that underlie its ontogenetic establishment are still poorly understood. In the present study a team of scientist from the Department of Human Genetics and the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience performed an association study of LRRTM1 rs6733871 and a number of polymorphisms in PCSK6 and different aspects of handedness assessed with the Edinburgh handedness inventory in a sample of unrelated healthy adults (n=1113). PCSK6 rs10523972 SNP showed a significant association with a handedness category comparison and degree of handedness. These results provide further evidence for the role of PCSK6 as candidate for involvement in the biological mechanisms that underlie the establishment of handedness and support the assumption that degree of handedness, instead of direction, may be a more appropriate indicator of cerebral organization.

Arning, L., Ocklenburg, S., Schulz, S., Ness, V., Gerding, W.M., Hengstler, J.G., Falkenstein, M., Epplen, J.T., Güntürkün, O., Beste, C. (2013). PCSK6 VNTR Polymorphism Is Associated with Degree of Handedness but Not Direction of Handedness. PLoS ONE, 8(6), e67251.