Brain Lateralization Essay

Brain Lateralization is a complex and ongoing process by which differing regions of the brain “take over” the functioning of specific behaviors and cognitive skills. Lateralization literally means that certain functions are located (in part or total) on one side of the brain. “Right-brained” or “left-brained” is a concept that has been manipulated by the media, it’s not supported by solid science. The myth of a “right-brain” person is generally creative, intuitive, artsy, while a left-brain person is more of a problem-solver, more direct, logical. Somehow the real meaning was lost in translation, so I’ll explain. The brain is divided into two sides, called hemispheres. The left hemisphere is often described as verbal and the right as

The left and right hemispheres of the brain are each divided into sections. Within each sections are lobes, controlling such processes as our visualization, our movement, and our personalities. For instance, the occipital lobe in the back of our brain is responsible for processing vision, and the frontal lobe behind our forehead controls cognition and personality. The lobes of the brain are split between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This well-designed arrangement is for the lobes to function correctly, so the two hemispheres of the brain can communicate with one

The corpus callosum binds the left and right hemispheres of the brain together, both physically and communicatively. After this operation has been performed, there was a remarkable development with how we perceive things and some of the results showed how much we rely on the connection between the two halves of our brain. There are also advantages of having a split brain. A study performed by Rogers et al, 2004 found that when you have two halves of a brain then it increases your ability to both look for food and watch for predators at the same time. Possibly demonstrating that the connections between our ancestors’ brain hemispheres were less developed. Another advantage is having the ability to read two pages at once. Of course, there are more disadvantages than advantages of having a split brain. An example of one is the most famous split brain study of all time, Sperry, 1968. In this study each participant, all having two halves of a brain, was shown two different images. One in each visual field and when asked to draw the image they had just seen they would draw the image they saw on the left but they would describe it as the image they saw on the right. This shows that the left side of the brain, which controls the right visual field, contains the information to be able to describe an object when seen