Right Brain Left Brain
By Steve Gillman
Introductory comments by Royane Real
Author of “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative”
You have probably heard people say, “I’m a left-brained thinker” or “I’m a right-brained thinker”
When a person calls himself a left brained thinker, he is trying to say that he is very logical and linear in his thinking, but not very emotional or creative. When a person calls himself a right brained thinker, he is trying to say that he is emotional and creative, but not very logical or linear.
Why do we use this particular set of terms to describe how different people think? It’s because of the way the brain is constructed.
Even if you’re not a brain surgeon, you probably have a basic idea of what the brain looks like. We’ve all seen many pictures of the brain, our most important organ. Pictures of the brain show a rounded object with a convoluted surface, split into two parts, looking more or less like a giant walnut.
Scientists call the two basic sides of the brain the right hemisphere, and the left hemisphere. That word hemisphere means “half of a sphere”.
For a long time, we have known that the right and the left brain control slightly different functions, because of knowledge gained in studying the way that people are affected after experiencing a head trauma.
Now, we can study more scientifically what roles the two hemispheres of the brain play.
It turns out that there is a lot of overlap in what the two halves of the brain do, but there is also some degree of specialization involved.
As the following article by author Steve Gillman indicates, the left brain gets more involved in processes that need a lot of logical thinking, and the right brain gets more involved with processes that need creative and emotional thinking.
Which kind of thinking is best? The answer is that both types of thinking approaches are important. When a person is too logical, or too illogical, problems can arise. A person who can only think logically will have just as many problems as a person who never tries to think logically.
As the following article suggests, no matter which kind of thinking you’re good at, why not practice a bit of the opposite? Both hemispheres of your brain have their own talents and their own kinds of knowledge. If you only use one kind of thinking all the time, you may lose out on some valuable insights that you could gain by expanding your mind.
( The above introductory comments were written by Royane Real. Learn more ways to boost your brain power in my popular ebook : “How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative” Download it at http://www.lulu.com/real )
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Right Brain Left Brain
By Steve Gillman
The concept of "right brain left brain" refers to the two hemispheres of your brain.
Some amazing experiments involving people who have had the corpus callosum cut taught us most of what we know about the differences between the two sides. The surgery is performed on epileptics to reduce the incidence of seizures, and it isolates most of the right hemisphere from the left hemisphere.
For a typical experiment, a divider allows a participant to see two objects - say, a cup with the right eye and a lemon with the left. When asked what they see, they'll say they see a cup, and nothing more, because most people process both language and information from the right eye with their left brain (left hemisphere).
However, when they write down what they see, using their left hand, they'll write "a lemon," because both the left hand and eye are controlled by the right side of the brain.
Of course, you have only one brain, and the two hemispheres work together normally.
These split-brain experiments show how distinct the two sides really are, though. When the corpus callosum is cut, it's as if there really are two brains. What have we learned from these experiments then?
Left Brain
For more than 90% of right-handed people and 70% of left-handed people, the left hemisphere:
- Processes things more sequentially.
- It is more rational, logical, analytical, and objective.
- It looks at the parts.
- It handles normal speech.
If you want to stimulate and strengthen the thinking processes of your "left brain," talk about things as logically as you can. Also, picking apart an argument or something you read can exercise this part of the brain too. While there is little hard evidence as to the effects of specific exercises, talking or working on your analytical skills are safe things to do, so experiment freely.
Right Brain
Again, the following is true for most people. The right hemisphere:
- Handles thing in more random and subjective manor.
- Is responsible for "hunches" and other intuitive processes.
- Looks more at wholes, and is best at pattern-recognition.
If you want to exercise your "right brain," sing. Stutterers find that they don't stutter when they sing, because it is handled differently than regular speech.
Writing or reciting free-form poetry and studying maps may help as well. Again, these are not proven by scientific studies yet, but there is no danger in experimenting in these areas.
Right Brain Left Brain Dominance
Most of us seem to favor one style or another of thinking, and this may be an indication of the dominance of one or the other hemisphere.
For example, it seems likely that the choice between joining the debating team or the art class in school has something to do with which side is dominant. You have probably noticed that left-handed people, who presumably have a more developed right hemisphere, are more often artists.
If you want to be more "whole brained" in your approach to things, you can start by working on your weakest areas, using some of the tips above. Also, you can bring both sides into whatever you do. For example, metaphors, a right-hemisphere process, can be used in logical (left hemisphere) debate.
Artistic work can include more analysis. Can this really help balance your thinking?
Probably. Time and more research will tell. In the meantime, it can't hurt to more fully use your right brain and left brain.
Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com
Article source: http://www.999articles.com
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