Any simple search on the internet for a “left brain right brain test” exposes us to a plethora of options. Are we more creative or are we more logical? Which side of our brain do we use the most (which hemisphere is more dominate)? These types of questions are frequent in popular media but why did this happen and when did it begin?
The year was 1981 and this guy named Roger Sperry received a Nobel Prize on his work with epileptic patients (more on that later). It took some time but soon people ran with his theories, extrapolated them. Unfortunately many of these theories have not been necessarily scientifically supported. That’s where we come in, the BrainBusters: let’s take a look at just a few of these myths.
Myth #1:
You can enhance a particular hemisphere to make yourself more logical or more creative.
A common idea floating around the media is that certain tasks will exercise specific hemispheres of the brain. One particular article from The Oprah Magazine, “Creativity Boot: How to Tap into Right-Brain Thinking,” draws a distinction between two types of thinking performed by the different hemispheres, the left being responsible for logical thinking and right being more creative. The article suggests that performing creative, right-brain tasks, can build up the neural pathways in the right hemisphere to think in a more creative way.
An example that the article provides as a creative, right-brain task is having a bilateral conversation. To do this, you write out, on a sheet of paper, a two-way conversation with yourself, switching your writing utensil back and forth between your left and right hands. So, how exactly does the execution of this task tap specifically into your right brain? Well, it actually does not.
BUSTED
While the idea of strength training for your brain seems kind of cool, spot training a specific hemisphere to enhance creativity does not seem very valid. You may be able to increase your level of expertise in an area but that does not necessarily make you more creative.
For example, extensive research has been conducted with patients who have had their corpus callosum split. These patients are commonly referred to as split-brain patients. These patients have helped scientists realize that the two hemispheres process information mostly independently from each other. According to this research, the right hemisphere is superior for processing of visuospatial material, a type of processing that would be incorporated by having a written conversation (writing the words and processing their meanings) as opposed to having a verbal conversation.
However, the left hemisphere is known to be superior for language processing, which was also revealed by research with split-brain patients. Given that this tasks involves having a conversation, it must rely on the left hemisphere, to both comprehend and produce the language of the conversation. This demonstrates that creative tasks require many types of information processing such that they rely on the specialized processing of both hemispheres.
Myth #2:
You can have a hemispheric imbalance that causes “detrimental” personality traits.
The Brain Balance Achievement Centers wants you to enroll your right-brain dominant child into their centers in order to balance their brain! Not only do they seek to further develop your child’s left-brain in order for your child to no longer be, “disorganized and have difficulty focusing for any length of time,” but the organization also thinks it is a shame that your child has, as they refer to it, “functional disconnection syndrome.”
B-B-B-BUSTED
Now, the BBC, as it will be called in this myth, probably has good intentions in wanting to balance the brain hemispheric “strength” in a child. They are correct in the sense that the right hemisphere does indeed control movement in the left side of the body, in addition to some spatial recognition, and some visual imagery. However, there are other parts of the brain that are not hemisphere dominant that perform these functions as well. In fact there are entire lobes that exist across both hemispheres of the brain that handle visual spatial processing. The occipital lobe provides primary processing of any information taken in from the eyes, and the entire frontal lobe provides “global processing,” as the BBC calls it, or as we will refer to as “complex thinking”.
The BBC also describes the right brain as being primarily responsible for face recognition. The right hemisphere does contain Brodmann Area 37, called the Fusiform Face area that processes and recognizes facial features and allows us to tell our best friend apart from a stranger. However, Brodmann Area 37 also exists in the left-hemisphere of the brain, and also serves the same purpose.
The hemispheres of the brain do serve specific purposes, for example the left hemisphere handles speech and language, as the BBC recognizes. If a blindfolded split-brain patient is presented an object in their left hand and asked to say what the object was they would be unable to define it. However, in cases where the corpus callosum is left intact a subject would be easily able to identify that object with speech regardless of which hand touched it.
The BBC suggests that left-brained children are routine oriented and follow directions well and favor science, while right-brained children are sporadic and troubled children who prefer art. However, when the corpus callosum is severed, and communication is cut off between hemispheres of the brain, a person does not change their overall personality and tastes. A person who likes art and draws does not suddenly change with split-brain surgery and begin to hate art and prefer science. Tendencies of study habits and general temperament in a child are not created based on hemispheric dominance, especially considering that in all cases information processed by one hemisphere is shared and processed to a similar degree in the other hemisphere. Information shown only to the right visual field, which is processed by the left brain initially is shared in its entirety with the right brain.
Myth #3:
You can be “right-brained” one day and “left-brained” the next.
Has someone ever asked you if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning because you especially cranky that day? How about waking up on the wrong side of your brain? This quiz, featured on the popular self-testing site “Queendom,” claims the following:
“We go through life attached to a lot of personality-related labels – introverted, optimistic, strong but silent, drama queen, etc. But left-brain or right-brain? These are not so well-known. Interestingly however, whether it is our left hemisphere that is more dominant or our right one, the distinction can impact our personality and the decisions we make. For example, left-brain people are more organized and systematic. Right-brain people are more creative and intuitive. So which side of your brain do you wake up on in the morning? Find out with this test!”
Sounds great, right? Maybe you’re not feeling very “left-brain” today, but there’s always hope that you’ll wake up tomorrow feeling more organized and ready to get things done.
SO TOTALLY BUSTED
Unfortunately, this is not exactly true. While the Queendom site sports a very nice emblem that they have awarded to themselves for their “Scientifically Validated” quiz, let’s take a closer look at the actual science behind hemispheric dominance, and the way this popular myth might have gotten started.
In 1981, Roger W. Sperry was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research about the effects of cutting the corpus callosum. He was originally trying to assist epileptics by reducing their seizures, but he soon noticed other interesting changes in his split-brain patients. For example, Sperry did tests in which information was processed by different hemispheres of the brain. When subjects reported the information back, however, they could only speak about information that had been processed by the left-brain, leading him to conclude that the left-brain was responsible for language. The more Sperry researched, the more he found that the different halves were ultimately responsible for a lot of different things. When the corpus callosum was cut, these differences became apparent because the communication between the two halves was cut as well.
To say that a person is “right-brained” one day or “left hemisphere dominant” another, is a gross exaggeration of these results. While the two halves do specialize in different responsibilities, they still ultimately work together. One study done at the University of Utah found that, out of 1,000 neurologically typical participants, levels of brain activity were equal between both the hemispheres. In split-brain people too, one half of the brain may be more active during specific tasks, but neither half becomes dominant overall.
So what now?
Creativity is not the hemisphere of the brain that you use for a particular task. It is a skill that can be practiced through a variety of tasks. Simply because a task exercises a skill does not necessarily mean it utilizes one hemisphere exclusively, or even mostly. The important thing to realize is that while the brain hemispheres do have specializations, they both contribute significantly to any complex task.
If a child prefers one way of studying over another or has difficulty in a subject, it is not about hemispheric dominance. That child may have another disability, or processing issue, or simply other specific needs that are not being meant that prevent the child from being available to proper learning. That child needs attention from a teacher or parent to his or her needs, not “hemispheric balancing.”
So remember, next time someone accuses you of waking up on the wrong side of the bed, you can assure them that you are, in fact, in your right (and left!) mind.
TL;DR?
Yes, the brain has two hemispheres. Yes, each hemisphere can have different primary functions, but neither hemisphere is either this or that, to some degree both hemispheres must work in tandem for a process or an action to occur properly.
Resources:
Beck, M. (2015). Creativity Boost: How to Tap into Right-Brain Thinking. Retrieved from http://www.oprah.com/spirit/How-to-Tap-into-the-Right-Side-of-Your-Brain-Martha-Beck-Advice
Cherry, K. (n.d.). Left Brain vs Right Brain Dominance. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/a/left-brain-right-brain.htm
Left-Brained Characteristics | Left Brain Dominance | Brain Balance. (2014, July 15). Retrieved from http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/blog/2014/07/characteristics-left-brained-child/
Right Brain Characteristics | Right Brain Dominance | Right-Brained. (2014, July 28). Retrieved from http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/blog/2014/07/characteristics-right-brained-child/
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