{"id":85,"date":"2015-09-06T04:20:06","date_gmt":"2015-09-06T04:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/?p=85"},"modified":"2015-09-25T21:18:31","modified_gmt":"2015-09-25T21:18:31","slug":"hemispheric-dominance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/2015\/09\/06\/hemispheric-dominance\/","title":{"rendered":"Hemispheric Dominance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Left-and-right-brain-300x225\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Are You Right Brained or Left Brained?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hemispheric dominance is the idea that both hemispheres of the brain are designed to perform specialized, but different tasks. Both sides of the brain control and receive sensory input from one another, which is known as contralateral control. The performance of tasks may also be referred to as \u201clateralization.\u201d The theory of hemispheric dominance, however, has been oversimplified for many years due to people confusing the actual science with personality traits.<\/p>\n

For example, many people associate\u00a0the left hemisphere with\u00a0mathematical skills and logistics, whereas the right hemisphere is known for artistic and imaginative skills. But why is that? It is true that both sides of the brain carry out specific functions, but they should not be categorized as two separate ways of thinking. Many processes are carried out in both sides of the brain. For example, the left side of the brain is dominant when processing speech, even though speech is processed using both sides of the brain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the very complex behaviors and functions of the brain are shared with different regions on both sides of the brain; therefore, this idea of being right-brained or left-brained is a myth, perpetuated in part by some misinformed \u201cscientific articles\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

On their website<\/a><\/span>, UCMAS Math Schools make the claim that, \u201cBy learning abacus through the systematic training approach at UCMAS, children can fully realize their potential by activating both sides of their brain. By consciously using the right side of our brain, we can be more creative.\u201d It is not possible to \u201cconsciously\u201d use a specific half of our brain, and our hemispheres do not need to be manually activated. This school is interpreting the concept of hemispheric dominance in a false way to create pseudo-scientific support of their use of abacuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

UCMAS’ website shows that they are a tutoring program, but they fail to cite any sources in their article on left and right brains. Also, once you click on \u201cMore Info on Brain Development\u201d<\/a><\/span>, it brings you to a page which states the following: \u201cRecent studies have proven that the abacus method of mental calculation is extremely effective in activating the right brain. According to the research, the learning and thinking process is enhanced when both sides of the brain participate in a balanced manner.\u201d Of course, none of the studies mentioned in this section are cited. It becomes quite clear that the article is a marketing attempt for getting parents to sign their children up for classes.<\/span><\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Iain McGilchrist, in an article<\/a><\/span>\u00a0written for the Wall Street Journal, talks of the two hemispheres of the brain as two separate worlds, and says that one hemisphere can come to dominate individuals and even whole cultures. He claims that, \u201cWithout the right hemisphere, we are socially and emotionally insensitive, and have an impaired understanding of beauty, art and religion\u201d. This implies that we could actually live without one half of our brains. He goes on, explaining how life is without the left hemisphere and how throughout the ages, certain cultural changes have allowed one hemisphere or another to dominate. He is particularly concerned about Western culture, saying that the result of over 2500 years of mental battles is \u201can ever greater reliance on the left hemisphere\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal article seems pretty credible at first; after all, it comes from a major publication. But on a\u00a0closer look, the article comes from their <\/span>Life and Style<\/span><\/i> section, rather than from their <\/span>Science<\/span><\/i> section. And the information\u00a0at the end of the article about the author, he wrote it to promote his new book.<\/span><\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Anandi, the “sleep guru\u201d claims on her website<\/a><\/span>\u00a0that the left hemisphere is masculine, bearing qualities \u201csuch as logic and reason\u201d, while the right hemisphere is feminine, acting as our source of \u201cintuition, creativity and spontaneity\u201d. \u00a0Which not only enforces wrong information about the brain, but also enforces incorrect gender roles. She then implies that the difference between the openness of our nostrils is connected to the balance between the the hemispheres.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sleep guru site is a personal blog\/webpage devoted to helping its owner, Anandi, gain new clients. Anandi helpfully lists her credentials on her \u201cWho is the sleep guru?\u201d<\/a><\/span>\u00a0page. While I am sure that her qualifications make her an excellent meditator and yoga instructor, she has no experience in neuroscience and is therefore not a credible source on hemispheric dominance.<\/span><\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

There is a lot of misleading information on the internet, which can make it hard to find accurate information about hemispheric dominance online. The first result that pops up when trying to research\u00a0hemispheric dominance is a link to a quiz which claims to help you determine which hemisphere is most dominant, are you right brain or left brain quiz<\/a>. Pop culture has adapted hemispheric dominance and turned it into a concept with little scientific basis. It\u2019s important when researching hemispheric dominance, or any other topic, to make sure that the information is coming from a credible source.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.oecd.org\/edu\/ceri\/neuromyth6.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/ucmas.ca\/our-programs\/whole-brain-development\/left-brain-vs-right-brain\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/ucmas.ca\/our-programs\/whole-brain-development\/more-info\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB10001424052748704304504574609992107994238<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.thesleepguru.co.uk\/aligning-two-halves\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.thesleepguru.co.uk\/who-is-the-sleep-guru\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.web-us.com\/brain\/braindominance.htm\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are You Right Brained or Left Brained? Hemispheric dominance is the idea that both hemispheres of the brain are designed to perform specialized, but different tasks. Both sides of the brain control and receive sensory input from one another, which is known as contralateral control. The performance of tasks may also be referred to as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2273,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/cognitiveneuroa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}