Left Brain vs. Right Brain Myth

Left Brain vs. Right Brain - Debunking the Myth

References

How the Brain Learns

O'Regan, L. (2015, June 22). A Brain of Two Halves: Debunking the Left-Brain/Right-Brain Myth. Retrieved from http://www.bluestreakscience.com/brainmyth/

• The human brain consists of special cells called neurons
• The neurons are composed of several parts, including brain fibers known as dendrites.
• As learning occurs, these brain fibers grow.
• The fibers connect your brain cells to one another at contact points called synapses.
• The larger your brain fibers grow, and the more brain cells they connect, the more information can be stored in your brain (Hook, C., & Farah, M, 2012).

Theories of Teaching and Learning

Concordia University

Debunking Myths

By: Julie Miller

McDermott, M. (2010, May 5). Recent Interview with Gazzaniga and split brain patient 'Joe'

Retrieved from

Carey, G. (2015, October 1). Debunking Brain Myths. Retrieved from http://www.scoop.it/t/debunking-brain-myths

Left Brain Functions

Wanjek, Christopher. (September 3, 2013). Left Brain vs. Right: It’s a Myth Research Finds. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/39373-left-brain-right-brain-myth.html

• Controls the muscles on the right side of the human body.
• Dominant in language: processing what you hear and most of what you say
• Performs logic and exact mathematical computations.
• Retrieves facts from the brain Wanjek, Christopher. (September 3, 2013).

Proven Accurate

Hook, C., & Farah, M. (2012). Neuroscience for Educators: What Are They Seeking, and

What Are They Finding? Neuroethics.

Right Brain Functions

Commonly Believed Right and Left Brain Characteristics:

Lefties:

• Lateralization is indeed real - the preference to use one brain region more than others for certain functions.
• For example, speech emanates from the left side of the brain for most right-handed people.
• This however does not imply that great writers or speakers use their left side of the brain more than the right, or that one side is richer in neurons.
• Connections among all brain regions enable humans to engage in both creativity and analytical thinking.
• What remains true is that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa. (With the exception of some left-handed people.) (O'Regan, L, 2015)

• Controls muscles of the left side of the body.
• Controls spatial abilities, facial recognition and processes music.
• Performs some math, but only rough estimations and comparisons.
• Helps us to comprehend visual imagery
• It plays a role in language, particularly in interpreting context and a person's tone Wanjek, Christopher. (September 3, 2013).

Only 70% of left-handers have their motor and language functions lateralised to the same hemisphere O'Regan, L. (2015, June 22).

• RIGHT:
• Responds to demonstrated instructions
• Problem solves with hunches, looking for patterns and configurations
• Looks at similarities
• Is fluid and spontaneous
• Prefers elusive, uncertain information
• Prefers drawing and manipulating objects
• Prefers open ended questions
• Free with feelings
• Prefers collegial authority structures

• LEFT:
• Responds to verbal instructions
• Problem solves by logically and sequentially looking at the parts of things
• Looks at differences
• Is planned and structured
• Prefers established, certain information
• Prefers talking and writing
• Prefers multiple choice tests
• Controls feelings
• Prefers ranked authority structures

Right Brain Careers:

Left Brain Careers:

• Graphic Designer
• Arts
• Recreation
• Interior Designer
• Psychologist
• Managers

Proven Inaccurate:

• Lawyer
• Civil Engineer
• Scientist
• Computer Programer
• Accountant

How We Learn and How Neuroscience or Cognitive Science Concepts Have Been Appropriated for Educational Use

Carey, G. (2015, October 1).

History

Applications to Teaching

• Brain scan technology has revealed that the hemispheres' roles are not quite so cut-and-dried as once thought.
• The two hemispheres are in fact highly complementary not in competition.
• Language processing takes place in both hemispheres: the left side processes grammar and pronunciation while the right processes intonation - this used to be associated with just the left hemisphere.
• The right hemisphere works in isolation - instead the right hemisphere seems to deal with a general sense of space, while the left hemisphere deals with objects in specific locations (O'Regan, L. (2015, June 22).

Cognitive science and neuroscience, have produced major advances and innovations in educational practice. Yet caution remains

imperative in basing education-related decisions on basic research. More specifically when there is a one-sided relationship rather than a reciprocal partnership present. For example, concepts about executive function in cognitive science have led to educational practices that are simple and do not address the variety of situations teachers encounter every day with students in their classrooms (Hook, C., & Farah, M, 2012).

• Various methods used to implement the neuroscience findings in the classroom are:
• using i-clickers
• implementing multiple ways of presenting an important point
• taking a break in a long class
• encouraging a variety of forms of class participation
• using music
• presenting questions in a context that is personally relevant to the student
• encouraging students to be physically active (Hook, C., & Farah, M, 2012).

• The concept of right brain and left brain thinking developed from the research in the late 1960s of an American psychobiologist Roger W Sperry. He discovered that the human brain has two very different ways of thinking. One (the right brain) is visual and processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture then the details. The other (the left brain) is verbal and processes information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first at the pieces then putting them together to get the whole. Sperry was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1981. (Wanjek, 2013)