Left Brain / Right Brain Review
Lateralization The brain is made up of two hemispheres. The term brain lateralization refers to the fact that the two halves of the human brain are not exactly alike. Each hemisphere has functional specializations: some function whose neural mechanisms are localized primarily in one half of the brain.
Much of what we know about brain function comes from the work of Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry, who studied how the human brain s hemispheres work independently. Normally, the two halves of your brain are connected via the corpus callosum, a huge bundle of nerve fibers. So, how do you even study the hemispheres separately?
Well, in the 1960s, there was no cure for people with severe types of epilepsies except to cut the corpus callosum, thus disconnecting any cross-talk between the two halves of the brain. After their surgery, patients who underwent this procedure were able to live a normal life, aside from some odd behaviors Each hemisphere is still able to learn after the split brain operation but one hemisphere has no idea about what the other hemisphere has experienced or learned. Today, new methods and technology in split brain operation make it possible to cut off only a tiny portion and not the whole of the corpus callosum of patients. His experiments showed that language processing is organized in the left hemisphere.
Criticism The Left Brain/Right Brain dichotomy is too oversimplified. Some tasks like math involve both logical and spatial functions. There is also the problem of definition. Can everyone really agree on what logical and creative even mean? People have misused this information to try to classify people s personality as either Left-Brained or Right-Brained. Furthermore they use this label to justify a fixed-mindset. For example, I can t do math. I ll never be able to understand it. I m just a Right-Brained person! FALSE!!!
We all use our whole brains, accessing different areas of our brains simultaneously. We may just be used to accessing certain brain functions more often than others. Our intelligence and abilities are not fixed. New research on Neuroplasticity shows that our brain grows the more we learn and especially the more we attempt new things and new techniques. The brain is a muscle and like any muscle it needs exercise to grow! Think Big! (video)
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain book by Betty Edwards Ms. Edwards is an artist and art educator who was inspired by Sperry s research. The main claim of her book is that anyone can learn how to draw by training ourselves to use our R-mode (right-brain) functions. Learning to draw is really learning how to see!
Many of my readers have intuitively understood that this book is not only about learning to draw, and it is certainly not about Art with a capital A. The true subject is perception. Yes, the lessons have helped many people attain the basic ability to draw, and that is a main purpose of the book. But the larger underlying purpose was always to bring right hemisphere functions into focus and to teach readers how to see in new ways, with hopes that they would discover how to transfer perceptual skills to thinking and problem solving
Why did I have you draw two profiles to make a symmetrical (mirror-imaged; same on both sides) vase?
To help you understand the shift from dominant left-hemisphere mode (L-mode) to subdominant R-mode. Also to experience the mental conflict created when the instructions are inappropriate to the task. To make the vase symmetrical you needed to rely on your R- mode, using perceptual and spatial skills. Conflict was created by emphasizing the profiles and the words to describe the parts of the faces which is using your L-mode, language skills.
Why did I have you draw this upside-down?
By not focusing on the fact that it is a person you allow yourself to see this image in terms of lines, shapes, curves, angles and space. This is using your perceptual and spatial functions! You should be able to achieve better results by drawing him upsidedown.
Other Tips for accessing your R-mode Listen to music without lyrics while drawing. Take a deep breath. Meditate. (Clear your mind of verbal thoughts.) Resist the urge to talk! Use upside-down drawing and other techniques you will learn like contour and gesture drawing as warm-up exercises.