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What Does Left-Brained vs. Right-Brained Mean?
Similar to a computer, a brain consists of many functional parts that are wired together to create a complex working machine. Just as a computer has a fan to introduce cooling air into the system and a motherboard to help the computer’s parts to talk together, the brain has ventricles to allow cooling cerebrospinal fluid into the brain and the thalamus which helps different sensory systems to talk together.
While some of these parts are either centered or mirrored on both the left and right side, some features are not symmetrical and appear more on one side or the other. One of the most commonly cited examples are the two language areas named Broca’s and Wernicke’s.
These two areas are generally on the left side of the brain and other features, such as emotional networks are generally more associated with the right side of the brain. However, in some people, the language centers are on the right and despite some general leanings to the right in the majority of brains, the emotional networks are really a vast array of subsystems that show different localization in different people.
Despite this, due to these stereotypical trends, some people have begun labeling individuals as either right-brained or left-brained due to personality traits or skill sets. Left-brained individuals are supposedly better with words and logic while right brained people are better at emotional regulation and creative thinking.
But is there any truth to these generalizations? This article will cover some research on the topic and explain why this type of thinking is harmful, especially in a classroom context.
Research on Being Left-Brained vs. Right-Brained
Research into lateralization of the brain has been conducted and has found few to no strong correlations between activation patterns when comparing the right to the left in the brain and supposed personality traits or skill sets. A study done on over 1000 individuals concluded that “Lateralization of brain connections appears to be a local rather than global property of brain networks, and our data are not consistent with a whole-brain phenotype of greater “left-brained” or greater “right-brained” network strength across individuals.” (Gainotti)
So, while greater skills in an area do result in a greater activation in areas that control that specific function, this activation does not reliably lead to a greater trend of more activation in other functions on the same side of the brain. Instead, as is usually the case, simple black and white labels are unreliable in making predictions about individuals with highly complex brain structures.
Even in single skill measurements, it is important to not make sweeping judgements or generalizations based on simple concepts such as what side of the brain a function is located in. Each individual will have different components which are connected in different ways with connections to other areas in the same hemisphere and connections which go through the corpus callosum to the other side of the brain.
As mentioned before, language centers are generally quite heavily lateralized and generally on the left side in the vast majority of people. However, in some people, language centers can be located on the right and even in people with it on the left, damage to the right can still result in serious complications with language.
The vast majority of brain functions are spread widely across multiple areas of both hemispheres of the brain. For example, despite being generally associated with the right side of the brain, research has shown that emotional regulation requires multiple networks communicating successfully in both hemispheres. (Nielsen et al.)
Dangers of the Left-Brained vs. Right-Brained Myth
Humans are naturally drawn to simple definitions and easy to understand categories. However, when teachers all prey to the myth of their students being right-brained or left-brained, it can cause them to pigeonhole their students and limit cross discipline and cross personality discussion.
If a student is labeled as a creative right-brainer, who struggles in math, their teacher or the student themselves may feel it is not worth the effort to push the student in other “left-brained” subjects such as science as they see the student as more suited for creative pursuits.
This may limit the young artist who falls in love with science class and grows up to be a medical textbook illustrator, for just one example. Just because a student is not good in one subject or even one area of a subject, that does not mean that they will never be able to reach a professional level of success in any skill related to the other half of their brain.
While there may be students who tend to be “feelers” vs “thinkers” even this false dichotomy is limiting and each subject needs students with different perspectives, skill sets, and ways of connecting ideas in their mind to generate new ideas and problem solve creatively.
Rather than falling into using lazy black and white labels for highly complex student brains, teachers should focus on what specific functions or skills the student is lacking and work out how best to target that skill specifically. Just because a student has a specific problem that does not doom an entire side of their brain to obscurity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the idea that people can be left-brained vs. right-brained is a complete myth. While certain functional parts of the brain do tend to be located on one side or the other, this lateralization does not correlate with other skills or deficits on that side of the brain.
Just as a computer may have a processor on one side or the other, the location or quality of that component says nothing about the location or quality of other components in the computer. Instead, when diagnosing problems, it is important to focus on what function is being affected and what component is responsible for those functions.
Each brain is a patchwork of unique components wired in totally unique ways with other components on both sides of the brain. Whether in school or in everyday life, making judgements or decisions based on a notion of sidedness is scientifically unfounded and potentially harmful.
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References
Gainotti, Guido. “The Role of the Right Hemisphere in Emotional and Behavioral Disorders of Patients with Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration: An Updated Review.” Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, vol. 11, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2019.00055.
Nielsen, Jared A., et al. “An Evaluation of the Left-Brain vs. Right-Brain Hypothesis with Resting State Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging.” PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 8, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071275.
