There are different kinds of math skills, ranging from being able to estimate which of two sets of things has a greater number of items, to counting, to various types of calculations. So let's consider a (relatively) more well-defined case: math skills, which are often taken to be part of what the "logical" left hemisphere would be good at. One problem with answering this question is that we would first have to agree on what "logical" and "creative" even mean. (And, full disclosure, she was also one of my first scientific mentors and co-authors.) Federmeier is a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she's also affiliated with the Neurosciences Program and The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Federmeier, whose research focuses on language, memory and hemispheric asymmetries throughout the lifespan. To get a clearer picture of what we do and don't know about hemispheric brain differences in humans, I was fortunate to have an opportunity to interview a leading cognitive neuroscientist, Kara D. The real story, as you might expect, is a bit more complicated - but arguably more interesting - than the infographics and popular headlines seem to suggest. So while there's something deeply compelling about the clear-cut, right-brain versus left-brain classification (or is that just my left hemisphere speaking?), we have good reasons for skepticism. Wayne Miller argues that the left / right brain divide is largely bogus, and should instead be replaced by a top brain / bottom brain distinction. One highly publicized paper, summarized at The Guardian, failed to find evidence that individuals tend to have stronger left- or right-sided brain networks. On the other hand, some recent headlines challenge the left brain / right brain dichotomy. What about the idea that some people are more right-brained and others more left-brained? Or that there's a distinctive analytic and verbal style of thinking associated with the left hemisphere of the brain, and a more holistic, creative style associated with the right? Are these scientific facts or cultural fictions?Īn infographic reproduced just last month at, for example, promises to explain "why you act the way you do" by revealing "which side of your brain you tend to use more." An article at explains " how to tap into right-brain thinking." And decades of research using behavioral and neuro-scientific techniques do reveal fascinating and systematic differences across brain regions. Ideas like black holes and quantum leaps play a metaphorical role that's only loosely tethered to their original scientific meanings. It's still common to hear people referred to as "anal," a Freudian idea that no longer has much currency in contemporary psychology. Sometimes ideas that originate in science seep out into the broader culture and take on a life of their own. It's time to rethink whatever you thought you knew about how the right and left hemispheres of the brain work together.
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