Confusing Right-Left Directionally

"[In medicine], laterality errors have the potential to lead to devastating consequences. Some of the most infamous errors in medicine have been wrong-sided surgery -- the wrong kidney taken out, or the wrong side of the brain operated on."
"I want to reassure you, it doesn't happen that often. But this [right-to-left confusion] is seen to be one of the many potential contributing issues for these pretty catastrophic events happening."
Dr. Gerard Gormley, academic, Queen's University, Belfast

Dr Gerard Gormley, of Queen's University Belfast, says almost a fifth of college professors and more than a quarter of college students have difficulty quickly identifying right from left

"The [driving] instructor says, 'Make a right turn here', and they immediately get confused."
"Difficulties in telling right from left can impact how children learn and pick up different skills."
"When you look at a chest X-ray, you still have to mentally rotate it from one side to the other. The fluid can be on the left side of the X-ray, but it's actually on the patient's right side."
"We don't have all the answers. But it's a ripe research area."
Neuroscientist Eric Chudler, University of Washington

Previous research found when medical students were distracted by the noise of a ward and clinical questions, their ability to make right-left judgments was thrown off

Dr. Gormley, considered a leading figure in the research into right-left confusion, is often cited by researchers studying a phenomenon affecting up to twenty percent of people who are normal neurologically in all other respects. From his research he has ascertained that left-handed people seem more prone than those who are right-handed, to right-left confusion, as are women, from the frequency of their reporting the problem affecting them.

It is not just people of average intelligence who are affected by this dysfunction, but Mensa members known for their elevated intelligence quotients as well also report "right-left directional sense" to be poor, or below average. The events alluding to medical mishaps of grave dimensions mentioned by Dr. Gormley occur frequently enough that hospitals routinely have surgeons go through "checklists" before an incision.

Anyone who has been on an operating gurney lately may be familiar with the routine; the doctor accompanied by a nurse asks questions of the patient while consulting the patient's chart and his own notes in a patient-folder, to ensure that they know which eye or  which shoulder is to be operated on. And then they take the further precaution of marking the correct side directly with marker on the correct hip, leg or other body part.

Children, pointed out Dr. Chudler, who have the problem will experience difficulty in picking up rules of games, as well as how to follow directions, or learning how to tie their shoelaces. A new study by Dr. Gormley was reported involving medical students with reference made to an online right/left confusion test which Dr. Chudler had created. The site experienced so many hits it crashed; 38,483 people took the test.

The disorder is described as a "complex, neuropsychological process" which involves memory and the capacity to process visual information. Spatial awareness and mental rotation; the ability to rotate three-dimensional objects in space mentally is part of the higher brain function involved. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association focused on a procedure to drain fluid from around the lungs; viewed by a specialist it requires a mental right-left reversal.

It is similar to facing someone and identifying the fact that your right is their left and vice versa.

Some of the studies in the field lead to brain symmetry; where most people have a level of asymmetry, one brain hemisphere being slightly larger than the other. The greater the symmetry, however, the greater the likelihood of right-left confusion, suggests some brain imaging studies. And though there is yet to be a consensus on whether women are more susceptible than men, women do tend to have more symmetrical brains than men.

A study published by Dr. Gormley with 290 first-year medical students concluded that male students were superior at distinguishing right from left than female students, while other studies found no significant connection between gender and directional confusion "We still haven't got to the bottom of it", admits Dr. Gormley whose latest research indicates that when people are distracted, the opportunity of making a right-left error is enhanced.

Some people resort to wearing their watch on their left wrist to remind themselves which wrist is left, which is right; little tricks of this nature can be useful to people who need constant reminding.