Left or Right - Could it be both?

The Uses of Right-Brain, Left-Brain Theory

     In 1981, the Nobel Prize in Physiology (or Medicine) was divided and one of its winners was Roger Wolcott Sperry (August 20, 1913 – April 17, 1994) for his discoveries concerning the functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres. His split-brain researches contributed greatly to understanding the lateralization of brain function.

     Have you ever heard people saying that they tend to be or to do things more in this than in that way? So, according to the theory of left-brain or right-brain dominance, each side of our brain controls different characteristics, different types of thinking and although everybody uses the two hemispheres, one predominates over the other. 

     Some of the abilities that are popularly associated with the right side of the brain include:

being passionate, expressing emotions, music, color, images, intuition, creativity. On the other hand, the left-side of the brain is associated with other abilities, such as: language, logic, critical thinking, numbers, reasoning. Knowing which one is your predominant side could be very helpful, because understanding your strengths and weaknesses in certain areas can help you develop better ways to learn and study. For example, according to the educator Kendra Cherry in her article written to about.com.psychology, the students who have a difficult time following verbal instructions (often cited as a right-brain characteristic) can benefit from writing down directions and developing better organizational skills.

Felipe and his twin brother, Bruno - both are scientifically musical.

     But can both sides work together to enhance our abilities at the same time? Can people be very good at left-brain and right-brain abilities? The answer is a huge YES. Logic (from the left side) and music (from the right side) has been working together for a long time, it has being connected to the scientific temperament. The 18th century French mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange proclaimed that he work best to the sound of music. Einstein’s vocational devotion to the violin is legendary. And we can have some very good examples at our school - the teachers from the exact subjects are the most music gifted, for example, teachers Dilza (Physics) and Rose (Math) sing very well, teacher Felipe (Physics) plays classic guittar so beautifully and teacher Wagner (Chemistry) sings and also plays guitar very well. Recent research has shown that abilities in subjects such as math are actually strongest when both halves of the brain work together. You can read about it here. So, being left-brained or right-brained is just a detail, the most important is keeping your brain thinking positively, working and being healthy. it was made to be used...well used, by the way!

Post Question: According to your opinion, are you right or left brained? Why? Which are your talent(s)? Which talent(s) don't you have but, if you could, you would like to have?

Tip: Are you sure about your characteristics? Are you left-brained or right-brained? If you want to know, try to do this test and get your result.