UNDATED (WHDH) — When it comes to using your cell phone – do you prefer to talk on the right or left side?
A new study suggests the brains of cell phone users show subtle differences based on which ear they typically use.
When it comes to determining how you hold your phone, researchers say it’s your brain that makes the call.
“We understand now that most people who are right-handed use their right ear and most people who are left handed use their left ear and we believe it had to do with hemispheric dominance,” said Dr. Michael Seidman, the author of the study.
Doctors found that more than 70-percent of people held their phone to the ear on the same side as their dominant hand.
That tended to be the case even when it made it more difficult to hold the phone and take notes.
Researchers think the preference is determined by the location of the speech and language centers in your brain.
Left-brain thinkers who tend to be more logical and analytical are more likely to hold the phone to their right ear.
While right-brain thinkers who are often more intuitive and creative tend to hold the phone to their left ear.
Researchers say, the findings may help develop less invasive tests for brain mapping and guide research into potential cancer risks.
“The other interesting question that we’re now starting to look by looking at tumor registry banks is that if indeed 80 to 90 percent of the people are using their right ear for their cell phone use or other types of things up to their ear… the question becomes is this related to cancer,” said Dr. Seidman.
If so, researchers would expect far more people to be diagnosed with cancer on the right side of their brain, head and neck.