Hack 69. Use Your Right Brainand Your Left, Too (2)
A simple distinction between a left brain specialized for language and cold logic and an oppressed right brain that specializes in intuition grew into the myth we know today. Similar to the 10% myth [Hack #6], this led to the further conclusion that most of us use only half of our brains. Although this distinction may or may not be a useful metaphor in talking about styles of thinking, it is certainly not a useful metaphor for conducting research nor for giving insight into the true differences between the hemispheres.
Any real difference between the hemispheres may be the opposite of what people raised on the left brain bad, right brain good myth would expect. Michael Gazzaniga, who was part of the team that did the original split-brain experiments and is now a very senior cognitive neuroscientist, recently wrote in Scientific American of an “inventive and interpreting” left brain, a hemisphere for structure and meaning, and a “truthful, literal” right brain, limited by a preoccupation with general surface features.2 In his research, he found that the right hemisphere contained modules specializing for computationally analyzing perceptions, in a very straightforward way, not looking for any deeper meaning. It’s not good at smart search strategies, for example. The left hemisphere is better at high-level associations and problem solving, including language, looking for meaning, and patterns.
6.9.1. In Action
Many of the original demonstrations of hemispheric specialization involve showing an image to just one hemifield of the eyes. Information from both eyes is processed by both hemispheres of the brain, but in both eyes, the information to the left of the focal point is processed by the right hemisphere and vice versa. By making sure someone is looking straight ahead, you can control which hemisphere processes an image by presenting it to the left or the right of his focal pointone hemifield. You have to do it very quickly; as soon as an image appears before them, people will move their eyes to look at it and thus feed the information to both hemispheres. Since this is difficult to do with vision, here’s a nonvisual demo you can try at home.3
The left hemisphere is better at processing rapidly occurring sounds and seems better at keeping rhythm; it can hold fancier rhythms and keep them synchronized with a beat better than the right hemisphere.
Taken from : Mind Hacks
