在一项发表于《Nature Communications》的研究中，来自纳瓦拉大学的应用物理学家 Iñaki Echeverría-Huarte 和 Iker Zuriguel 调查了人类移动中持续存在的逆时针偏向。经过 5 年的研究，该团队探索了各种假设，以解释为什么个体会自然地向左偏转。最初，受到一项显示迷路者会绕圈行走的研究所启发，他们测试了右撇子在面对墙壁时会决定左转的假设，但他们随后的实验推翻了这一点，揭示了无论惯用手为何，都存在普遍的逆时针偏好。

为了在不同条件下验证这一行为，研究人员进行了六项不同的实验，共涉及 573 名参与者。在开放的校园操场上，参与者自由行走的无人机记录显示，其中 80% 的人几乎立刻开始了逆时针运动。为了确定这是否是一种集体群聚效应，他们对参与者进行了单独测试，发现仍有 75% 的人向逆时针方向移动，证实了这种偏向是个体特征，而非群体动态。

该研究进一步透过国际和发展观察排除了文化与年龄相关的因素。在日本（当地习惯靠左行走）进行的测试产生了相同的逆时针结果。此外，分析 52 名日本幼儿园儿童伴随音乐随机行走的影片画面，也显示了类似的逆时针多数。这些发现挑战了目前的行人动力学模型，并为紧急疏散开辟了新的研究方向。

In a study published in Nature Communications, applied physicists Iñaki Echeverría-Huarte and Iker Zuriguel from the University of Navarra investigated a persistent counterclockwise bias in human locomotion. Over a 5-year period of research, the team explored various hypotheses to explain why individuals naturally veer to the left. Initially prompted by a study showing lost individuals walk in circles, they tested the assumption that right-handedness dictates left turns when facing walls, but their subsequent experiments disproved this by revealing a universal counterclockwise preference regardless of hand dominance.

To verify this behavior under different conditions, the researchers conducted six distinct experiments involving a total of 573 participants. In an open campus playground, drone recordings of participants walking freely showed that 80% of them initiated a counterclockwise movement almost immediately. To determine if this was a collective grouping effect, they tested participants individually and found that 75% still moved counterclockwise, confirming the bias is an individual trait rather than a crowd dynamic.

The study further eliminated cultural and age-related factors through international and developmental observations. Testing in Japan, where left-side walking is customary, yielded the same counterclockwise results. Additionally, analyzing video footage of 52 Japanese kindergarten children walking randomly to music showed a similar counterclockwise majority. These findings challenge current models of pedestrian dynamics and open new research directions for emergency evacuations.