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A second extremely persistent myth is that we are either right- or left-brained. If you’re more rational, logical and organized, you’d be left-brained. If you describe yourself as creative, intuitive, artistic or emotionally inclined, you’d be more right-brained.
However, this theory has never been validated or accepted by the neuroscientific community.
The idea that we have a right brain and a left brain is largely the result of scientific findings that have been extrapolated or interpreted beyond measure. We believe this is particularly true of the discovery made by the scientist Paul Broca.
First of all, it’s important to know that the brain is divided into two hemispheres. We have a right hemisphere that receives and sends information to the left side of the body, and a left hemisphere that receives and sends information to the right side of the body. What’s more, we now know that certain mental functions are performed more by one hemisphere than another. This is particularly true of language, one of Paul Broca’s great discoveries.
In 1859, Paul Broca discovered the lateralization of language function in the brain. A lesion in a specific part of the left hemisphere causes aphasia, i.e. total or partial loss of the ability to speak. A few years later, the neurologist Carl Wernicke added, following a study, that word comprehension is impaired when a lesion occurs in another region of the same hemisphere. Language function therefore seems to be controlled mainly by the left hemisphere. Conversely, the right hemisphere is dominant for visuo-spatial functions such as spatial orientation, recognizing familiar places, etc.
Certain functions therefore seem to be lateralized, but this lateralization exists for everyone, regardless of personality, and above all, it’s not the case for all functions.
Indeed, many functions are possible thanks to the connection and communication between the two hemispheres.
On a day-to-day basis, an individual does not operate one hemisphere more than another. Our right and left hemispheres are strongly connected and communicate with each other via the so-called corpus callosum. The corpus callosum lies between the two hemispheres, coordinating them and allowing information to pass from right to left and left to right.
When information is perceived by the brain, it is processed by both hemispheres, but each hemisphere processes different aspects of the information. It is the sum of the two hemispheres’ processing that, thanks to their communication, will enable us to carry out our functions correctly and, above all, fully.
For example, when you listen to someone speak or when you speak, your left hemisphere processes grammar and word production, while your right hemisphere will be focused on intonation and word accentuation.
Similarly, when you enter a new room and look around, your right hemisphere will better manage the general perception of space, while your left hemisphere will locate objects in specific places. The sum of the two pieces of information allows you to create the whole mental image of what you perceive.
So, if you describe yourself as creative or logical, it’s not because of one hemisphere in particular, but because of the connections between the different areas of the brain.
Author: Anaïs Roux
