The right brain vs. the left brain: Facts and myths

You often hear people referred to as “left brained” or “right brained”, but is there such thing as a left and right brain? Let’s take a look at the facts and the myths around the two sides of the brain.

But first a couple of basics…

The brain is the central nervous system's most important organ, and is split into two half, or lobes, that are linked by something called the corpus callosum.

These two hemispheres regulate movement in our bodies and receive sensory information from the opposite side.

The left hemisphere controls our right side while simultaneously receiving sensory information from our right side, and vice versa, with the functions of the left side of the body controlled by the right hemisphere.

But where did this left brain and right brain idea even come from and how do we know this? Let’s get into it!

The concept of a right and left brain

A twentieth-century neuroscientist named Roger W. Sperry (he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1981) made important advancements in our knowledge of the brain's two parts.

Sperry (1967) studied split-brain patients, or those whose left and right brains weren't connected in the way they should have been. These individuals indicated brain side dominance, but they also exhibited a variety of different behaviors that seemed to be correlated to only one side of the brain.

Sperry also experimented with animals like cats and monkeys, rewiring their neural systems to send messages from one side of the brain to the other side of their bodies.

This demonstrated how some functions are hard-wired to one side of the brain, while others may adjust to operate well on either side.

His research indicated that while the left side of the brain has crucial modules for creating sentences, the right side preserves certain language abilities, such as interpreting the social context of speech.

He concluded that human brains contain different halves that overlap in function, but that there were some functions that were subject to left or right brain dominance.

The right brain

Visual perception, spatial connections, pattern recognition, music, and emotional responses are all skills that the right hemisphere of our brain excels at.

It's also adept at drawing conclusions. Our right hemisphere, for example, will associate terms like "foot," "cry," and "glass" with the word "cut."

Our left hemisphere recognizes all of these words but is unable to draw conclusions from them rapidly. Our right hemisphere also allows us to sense our own identity. Right-brain injuries can make it difficult for people to recognize themselves in the mirror.

Our right hemisphere, unlike the left, prefers to process information holistically.

The left brain

Reading, writing, speaking, mathematical thinking, and comprehension are all handled by the left hemisphere of our brain.

According to research, when we speak or perform mathematical computations, activity in our left hemisphere rises.

Another feature of our left hemisphere is that it processes information in a sequential, one-by-one manner.

Brain lateralization

The concept of brain lateralization states that the left and right sides of the brain perform and govern various processes and behaviors.

In brain lateralization, each hemisphere is in charge of a different set of tasks; the left side is in charge of analytical, logical, and verbal mental processes, while the right is in charge of more sensitive processes like feelings, intuition, and sensory affairs.

In left-handed people, the roles of the two hemispheres are reversed. The notion underlying brain lateralization is that the two hemispheres handle certain brain processes and behaviors for the general operation of the individual and may be used as needed.

Where did the left brain right brain myth come from?

This myth arose from studies of the human brain that were subsequently significantly twisted and inflated, as with many popular psychological myths.

It was the misinterpretation of experiments on split brains by Roger Sperry.

Sperry discovered that severing the corpus callosum might diminish or eliminate epileptic convulsions while researching the affects of epilepsy.

However, once the communication pathways between the brain hemispheres were destroyed, these individuals experienced additional symptoms.

Many brain-split patients, for example, were unable to name items processed on the right side (those in the left visual field), but could name those processed on the left side (those in the right field of vision).

Sperry concluded that language was entirely controlled by the left side of the brain based on this findings.

Are there “left-brained” people and “right-brained” people?

The brain has been the subject of a big research study at the University of Utah.

This study debunked the idea of having left-brained and right-brained people. The assessors found that both parts of the brain are used routinely, not one or the other for any given activity, after studying brain data from 1,011 young individuals.

Language is still left-oriented, whereas emotions remain right-oriented.

It's also true that each of the brain's lobes has a particular function. However, there is no indication that one's left or right brain is more powerful than the other!

Neurons in your brain light up with activity as you receive sensory input, process it, and act on it. All of these components need a separate portion of the brain, but because they are all connected by the same neural network, certain sections of the brain have stronger connections than others.

Also, because our brain's millions of inputs aren't black-and-white, there isn't a clear defined space for anything. These neural networks let our brain juggle stimuli from one place to another.

While the temporal lobe controls your capacity to hear music, when you have an emotional reaction to it, internalize the musical rhythms, and follow the tune, many areas of the brain are activated.

So in conclusion, although there are two hemispheres of the brain and they do each play a larger role in certain skills and human function, many of the popular culture references about someone being left or right brained are largely myths.