Human Bodily Asymmetry Relates to Behavioral Lateralization and May not Reliably Reflect Developmental Instability

• Main Author: Stefan Van Dongen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-04-01
• Series: Symmetry
• Subjects: human; directional asymmetry; fluctuating asymmetry; developmental instability; behavioral lateralization
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/10/4/117

(1) Background: The link between behavioral lateralization and bodily asymmetry in humans is studied to investigate the reliability of fluctuating asymmetry as a measure of developmental instability; (2) Methods: Morphological asymmetries of arms and legs, obtained from 3D body scans, were correlated with different measures of behavioral lateralization; (3) Results: Observed associations were in the directions expected, showing that more asymmetric use of the body increases asymmetry, especially in the arms, and more symmetric body use appears to have a symmetrizing effect; and (4) Conclusions: The results presented here question the suitability of human bodily asymmetry in arms and legs—or at least part of them—as a measure of developmental instability. There is a need for future research that identifies regions of the body that are not affected by behavioral lateralization and can reliably reflect developmental instability.