Dominant Side of Face Linked to Musical Ability
MADISON, Wis. (AP)___
Beethoven probably did not know he was left-faced, but a University
of Wisconsin-Madison psychologist says that is probably one of
the reasons he was a musical genius.
The dominance of one side of a person’s face, called facedness,
may be linked to musical ability and support the theory that
such talent is inherited, according to Karl U. Smith, an emeritus
professor of psychology.
In a recent study, Smith said he analyzed
hundreds of people to de-termine their facedness and discovered
that the phenomena probably begins to emerge in infants several
weeks old.
He used
computerized analyses of lip, tongue and jaw movements, and claims
it is probably as common as right or left-handedness.
“My results confirmed that all persons have a sort of facial ‘fingerprint,’” or distinctive way in which they use one side of their
face just as they have distinctive patterns of handedness,” Smith said.
Nearly
90 percent of all people, Smith said were right-raced.
The
connection between musical talent and left-facedness arose as
he was looking at facial patterns in different occupational groups,
Smith said.
“I was stunned to discover that 98 percent of the opera singers I examined
were left-faced. In fact, of the talented musicians I observed, almost all
were left-faced,” he said.
Smith said that because facedness develops two or three years
before handedness, such talents may be inherited.
“This suggests that facedness is related to how the brain develops right
after birth, which indicated that certain traits are inherited,” he said.
Current
theories have suggested that the left hemisphere of the brain
controls analytic skills and the right side is geared toward
creativity. Smith said the lift side controls right-side body
movement, and the right side of the brain controls left-side
body movement.
Concerning musical ability, Smith said: “The
left side of the brain controls language articulation, but the
right side controls total performance; of the ability to sing
and control the voice.”
