Have you gotten pop-ups on your newsfeed about the right-brain vs. left- brain test? From books to Facebook streams, you have probably heard the phrase mentioned before and maybe you’ve even clicked on a link assessing your abilities. But how accurate are these tests in reality? Is it really possible to be a right-brain or a left-brain type of person? Before jumping to conclusions, it is important to look at the facts, and some hard, cold scientific data. So let’s begin.
Have you gotten pop-ups on your newsfeed about the right-brain vs. left- brain test? From books to Facebook streams, you have probably heard the phrase mentioned before and maybe you’ve even clicked on a link assessing your abilities. But how accurate are these tests in reality? Is it really possible to be a right-brain or a left-brain type of person? Before jumping to conclusions, it is important to look at the facts, and some hard, cold scientific data. So let’s begin.The brain is divided into two symmetrical hemispheres yet each side contains areas with unique functions. For example, Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, which are both located exclusively on the left brain lobe, are important in regards to speaking (Broca) and understanding language (Wernicke). Anatomists have concluded that language and speech are centered in the left lobe.
Research has also been conducted on people with a split brain. A split brain is when the corpus callosum, the group of fibers connecting the two hemispheres, has been cut. The source for right brain-left brain theory was developed by Nobel Prize winner, Roger W. Sperry. Sperry studied the effects of epilepsy and discovered that cutting the corpus collosum could reduce or eliminate seizures. He also discovered that these participants experienced other symptoms, such as the inability to name objects that were processed by the right side of the brain. For example, if a picture of an object was flashed on the left side of a participant, then he claimed that he had not seen anything. Interestingly, if the person was asked to pick up the object using his left hand, he would correctly choose the object flashed by the researcher. How can this be? When a person sees something on his left visual field, then information is sent to the right side of the brain. It appears that the right side of the brain identifies the object and sends information to the hand to pick it up, but since the right side has little capability for language; it cannot articulate what the patient has seen. This research has contributed greatly to the idea of specialized functions of each hemisphere.
The discipline of psychology takes this concept one step further. According to the idea of lateralization of brain function, a person can be right or left brain dominant and this dominance is evident in his or her personality. The claim is that left-brain dominant people are more logical, analytical, and objective while right-brain dominant people are more creative, intuitive, and subjective. Therefore, left-brain people (which are right-hand dominant) are said to be have better critical thinking, math, and reasoning skills. Right-brain people, or left-handed people, are said to be more adept at expressing and reading emotions and music. Scientific evidence has negated these findings.
Scientists at the University of Utah, led by Professor Jeff Anderson, examined the brain scans of 1,011 people as part of the Neuroimaging Data Sharing Initiative. The investigators examined and measured the brain activity and the neural connections of the different brain regions, and found that each side of the brain is used equally. Anderson states, “It’s absolutely true that some brain function occurs in one or the other side of the brain. Language tends to be on the left, attention more on the right. But people don’t seem to have a stronger left or right sided brain network.” Anderson further dissuades the notion of right and left handed brain by stating in LiveScience, an online science magazine, that “It is not the case that the left hemisphere is associated with logic or reasoning more than the right… creativity is no more processed in the right hemisphere than the left.”
Instead of having one part of the brain more developed than the other, recent research has shown that success in subjects such as math are actually strongest when both halves of the brain work together. Neuroscientists recognize the connectedness of the two sides of the brain in working together. The science writer Carl Zimmer writes in an article for Discover magazine, “No matter how lateralized the brain can get, though, the two sides still work together.” He adds, “The pop psychology notion of a left brain and a right brain doesn’t capture their intimate working relationship. The left hemisphere specializes in picking out the sounds that form words and working out the syntax of the words, for example, but it does not have a monopoly on language processing. The right hemisphere is actually more sensitive to the emotional features of language, tuning in to the slow rhythms of speech that carry intonation and stress.
Based on this data, it appears that there is no such thing as a right brain or left brain dominant person. The brain is not an “all or nothing” organ- there are many factors and layers of input that effect its function. Therefore, a right brain vs. left brain personality test isn’t going to tell you much. And if you take online brain quizzes to understand your strengths and weaknesses, consider this: sitting down with a nice cup of coco and getting to know yourself, the good-old fashioned way.