When following directions, would you rather go north for three miles, then turn west and drive for another 2.2 miles. Or, would you prefer to go right and drive until you get to Starbucks, turn left at the next set of lights and go up the hill until you see the big purple house with the swing-set in the front yard? If you said the second, then you 're definitely heading towards the right brain.
The Brain
A three pound marvel; the brain is a jelly-like mass comprising approximately 100 billion nerve cells (neurons). It is the control center for our lives. The brain is divided into two complete halves; the right and the left hemispheres. These halves are closely connected to each other by the corpus callosum, a wide band of nerve fibers. The right hemisphere generally controls much of our left side and vice versa, but there is much more to it than just that.
Right Brain Characteristics
Meet Jane – her right hemisphere is her dominant side. She is more creative than most of her left-brain friends and that could be why Jane excels at music and art. She often bases her decisions on gut-instinct rather than facts and tends to be rather impetuous. That could account for the 78 pairs of shoes in Jane's closet. When Jane was in high school she found it much easier to learn from visual and hands-on teaching, and she preferred essay-style tests rather than short answer or multiple choice.
Even today when Jane needs to memorize something, she still resorts to mnemonic techniques such as acronyms, rhymes and songs to help her remember things. Jane is a high school councilor. It seems Jane is never off the clock; in addition to students, many of Jane’s co-workers and friends seek her advice constantly. This could be because Jane is an excellent team player and she has an uncanny ability to see the whole picture. She is always thinking outside the box. She relaxes on weekends by meditating and listening to music and she loves her yoga class every Tuesday and Thursday.
Left Brain Characteristics
Meet Dick, Jane’s husband. Yup, you guessed it; Dick’s left hemisphere is his dominant side. Although Dick loves Jane with all his heart, sometimes he thinks she can be a little flaky. One of the things that attracted Dick to Jane is her spirit of adventure, which is interesting, because Jane has trouble getting Dick to join her when she goes mountain biking or rock-climbing. Dick worries about Jane. Doesn’t she realize how many accidents and injuries are related to rock-climbing?
Dick works at the same high school as Jane. He teaches calculus and geometry, and he has an excellent memory. He can never get Jane to pay attention for long when he tells her about some of the math lessons he has planned for his students, yet she is always telling him this and that about her own students. Dick is great with money, and good thing too, since Jane seems to love spending it. Dick bases his decisions strictly on fact and science. He is a logical thinker and makes a list everyday of the things that he has to do. He takes pleasure in completing the list in order, and enjoys crossing each item off as he goes.
How the Right Brain Works versus How the Left Brain works
We already know that Dick makes a list every day. But you might be surprised to know that Jane makes a list every day too. See, here’s the thing; Dick makes a list because he loves lists and completing the tasks. Jane makes a list because if she doesn’t, she never seems to get anything accomplished. It’s odd though, because Jane is forever busy doing things around the house. For instance just this morning she was doing some laundry. She took the folded clothes into the bedroom to put them away but once there; she noticed the dust on the dresser and went to the hallway closet to get the duster.
When she opened the closet door, she saw the light bulbs and remembered that the light bulb in the lamp in the family room still needed to be replaced. Ever so efficient, Jane grabbed a light bulb and went downstairs. When she walked into the family room, she noticed a stain in the carpet from mud that she must have tracked in earlier. She didn’t want it to dry before she could get to it, so she placed the bulb on the coffee table and ran to get the carpet cleaner……you get the picture, right?
So what are you? Right brain or left brain?
Sources:
Middle Tennessee State University: Hemispheric Dominance (accessed October 2010) National Geographic, Health and Human Body: Brain (accessed October 2010)
Nancy Morrish - Nancy Morrish has been writing since 2005. She began her freelance career in 2010 after moving to the Hudson Valley with her husband and ...
