Hair whorls, also known as crowns, swirls, or trichoglyphs, can be either clockwise, counterclockwise or diffuse in direction of growth.

Amar J. S. Klar conducted research to see if there was a genetic link between handedness and hair-whorl direction.

His research suggested that a single gene may control both handedness and hair-whorl direction.

Together, these results suggest (1) that a single gene controls handedness, whorl orientation, and twin concordance and discordance and (2) that neuronal and visceral (internal organs) forms of bilateral asymmetry are coded by separate sets of genetic pathways.

[6] One paper has suggested that abnormal hair whorls can be used to assess the likelihood of agitated behavior or temperament in cattle in the auction ring.