Effect of limb dominance on motor nerve conduction.

The economic, social and personal burden of common neurological disorders has been the subject of intense study all over the world. Nerve conduction velocity being affected by factors like age, gender and temperature is a well known fact. The effect of handedness on nerve conduction is not known much and needs further evaluation. In the present study 50 medical students divided into 2 groups of 25 each, depending on the handedness were incorporated. Motor nerve conduction of the median and ulnar nerve was studied. It was found there was no significant difference in velocity between the dominant and non dominant limbs of the same individuals, but nerve conduction in right handed subjects was more as compared to their counterparts for both dominant and non dominant limbs. This finding suggests that there should exist a separate set of normative data for both right and left handed individuals to be used in practice.