Hemispheres of the Brain the

Hemispheres of the Brain The brain is divided into two hemispheres - the left and the right brain - separated by a fold that runs from the front to the back. The two hemispheres are connected to one another by the corpus collosum, a thick cable of nerves, at the back of the brain.

As Gibson (2002) notes, "A good analogy is that of two separate, incredibly fast and immensely powerful computers, each running different programs from the same input, connected by a network cable, or the corpus collosum." and, these differences lead to different learning styles, dependent on an individual's dominant side of the brain. Hemispheres of the Brain Hemispheric Dominance Overview: The brain is divided into two hemispheres - the left and the right brain - separated by a fold that runs from the front to the back.

The two hemispheres are connected to one another by the corpus collosum, a thick cable of nerves, at the back of the brain. As Gibson (2002) notes, "A good analogy is that of two separate, incredibly fast and immensely powerful computers, each running different programs from the same input, connected by a network cable, or the corpus collosum." The popular theory is that the two cerebral hemispheres of the brain differ greatly, when it comes to the cognitive processes that they support.

Kaminski-da-Roze (1984) lists the characteristics of the left brain as "conscious, inductive, logical, linear thinking, questions why and how" (p. 10). The right brain characteristics, in contrast, is described as being "subconscious or even unconscious, deductive, intuitive not logical, nonlinear thinking" (p. 10). Yet, as Hines (1987) states, this is an oversimplification of the differences in the hemispheres of the brain. Research has shown that the processing differences between the right and left hemispheres of the brain are much smaller and much less clearly dichotomized than what is commonly believed.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, it was popular to believe that the left hemisphere of the brain was the verbal hemisphere, while the right was the non-verbal. It was believed that the left hemisphere processed linguistic stimuli, according to Hines (1987), while the right processed nonlinguistic stimuli. Yet, research showed that this dichotomy was far from absolute and not even very accurate. Although the left hemisphere was more efficient at handling linguistic tasks, the right hemisphere was able to handle these tasks as well.

The converse was true as well, with the left hemisphere perfectly capable of handling nonlinguistic stimuli, albeit with less accuracy and efficiency. Yet, as Hines reminds the differences in speed are rarely over 50 or 60 milliseconds. The left hemisphere is somewhat superior in using visual stimuli, in contrast to the right hemisphere, in processing high spatial frequency information. The right hemisphere is slightly better than the left at processing low spatial frequency information.

Yet, there is one area that does show a significant difference between the two hemispheres - a person's ability to speak - which is strongly represented in the left hemisphere and weakly, if at all, in the right, for most people. "The finding that speech control is strongly lateralized is as close to an absolute dichotomy of function between the hemispheres as one will find in the literature" (Hines, 1987). Another common belief is that musical abilities, both receptive and expressive, are contained in the right hemisphere of the brain.

However, research concerning differential hemispheric processing of different aspects of musical stimuli and ability demonstrates that different aspects of music are differentially lateralized in the brain. Research has shown that rhythm is processed by the left hemisphere. The right hemisphere, on the other hand, is specialized for processing the complex, harmonic information that is present in some melodies. Hines (1987) cites research on musically talented individuals that suffered brain damage, that further illustrates the point that music is not solely contained in the right hemisphere.

There are several aspects of music and some which show left hemisphere superiority, while others are shown to be dependent on right hemisphere superiority. As an example, reading music is better performed by the left hemisphere. In fact, one musician who had a lesion in the left hemisphere of his brain lost his capacity for perfect pitch as well as his ability to read and transcribe music.

This case, and other similar ones, demonstrates the need for the usage of the left hemisphere, as well as the right hemisphere, for musical abilities to flourish (Hines, 1987). Learning Differences Between Left and Right-Brained Individuals: Despite the misconceptions about the differences between left and right hemispheres of the brain, there are differences that affect an individual's learning style (Frohlich, 2004).

According to Gibson (2002), the left brain uses logic, is detail oriented, deals with facts, is the area where math and science is conducted, is reality based, practical, strategic, and concerned with safety. In contrast, the right hemisphere of the brain uses feeling, is 'big picture' oriented, is the center for imagination, processes symbols and images primarily, is where philosophy and religion is processed, knows object function, is fantasy based, presents possibilities, is impetuous, and is the risk taking side of the brand.

"Essentially, the right brain is holistic, convergent, and able to ascertain the big picture. (...) the left brain is linear, divergent, and focuses on one thing at a time." Gibson (2002) and Frohlich (2004) further go on to detail the skill associated with hemispheric specialization. Those with left hemisphere dominance tend to excel in handwriting, symbols, language, reading, phonics, locating details and fact, talking and reciting, following directions, listening, and auditory association. Left-hemisphere brands have linear, symbolic, sequential, logical, reality-based, and temporal modes of consciousness.

Those with right hemisphere dominance, on the other hand, tend to excel in haptic awareness, spatial relationships, shapes and patterns, mathematical computations, color sensitivity, singing and music, art expression, creativity, visualization, and feelings and emotions. Their modes of consciousness are: holistic, concrete, random, intuitive, fantasy-oriented, and non-temporal. Ali and Kor (2006) detail a variety of learning styles that are dependent on hemispheric superiority. There are two learning styles that are not dependent on hemispheric dominance.

The active style retains and understands information most effectively when discussing in a group, applying it, or explaining it to others. and, the reflective style prefers to think about what they have learned and working it out while alone. Neither of these styles is more prominent in left or right hemisphere superiority. However, those that are left brain dominant are most often prone to three styles of learning: sensing, verbal and sensing.

Those that are right brain dominant are most prone to three learning styles as well: intuitive, visual, and global. The sensing style prevalent in left-brain individuals is used by those who like to learn facts and solve problems. They prefer using well-established methods and are good at memorizing facts. The sensing style likes hands-on work and dislikes complications and surprises. and, they resent being tested on material that has not been explicitly covered.

Left-brained individuals also often do well with the verbal learning style, according to Ali and Kor (2006), where they do well with written and spoken material. Lastly, left-brained individuals excel with a sequential learning style. With sequential learning, material is presented in linear steps, with.