Hemispheric Dominance, or right brain/left brain as it is more commonly known, is a widely discussed topic in psychology. Observations have been made in the field about how one side of the brain is utilized more in certain situations than in others. It has been said that one hemisphere dominates the other in every person, and said person has a better aptitude for subjects in their respective brain. It is true that most people have a propensity for the themes that correlate with one side or the other; but in reality, everyone uses both sides of their brain complementarily at various times in their lives.
The right brain is said to control the left side of the body as well as being the creative and athletic part of the brain. It is the more visual part of the brain, making those who are more right brain dominant have a more vivid imagination, expand on creativity and appreciate art and music more. Right brain users prefer visual instructions with examples, enjoy organizing things to show relation, are occasionally absentminded, are very spontaneous and unpredictable and are all-around more philosophical than a left brained person.
The left brain however, is more concentrated on speech and number and reasoning skills. To supplement the right brain, the left brain controls the right side of the body. A person who is said to be left brained is said to prefer things like instructions to be given verbally, they are good at math and like to read, usually do things in a planned orderly way and like to be organized. Every person is different and will have characteristics from both brains which, in turn, proves that one cannot be completely right or left brained and rather are a combination of the two.
Despite the fact that the two halves of the brain are dissimilar in regard to their function, they must work as one to complete any task at hand. Neither half could perform properly if they did not communicate. The two halves are connected by a bundle of nerves called the corpus callosum. This allows for the transfer of information from one side to the other to work in tandem and create a well-rounded personality in the individual.
An experience from my life that exemplifies the distinction of the two hemispheres of the brain is when I was four. We would visit my aunt and uncle’s house and I would use their children’s toys. I was less interested in the Barbies and dolls that belonged to my female cousin than I was in the Legos that belonged to her brother. He had several Lego models built and placed on shelves in his room. He enjoyed putting them together and playing with them as the sets instructed. I was more comfortable, taking the sets apart and sorting the pieces by size, shape, color, etc. This arranging and organizing led me to realizing much later that I was less of a spatial/visual person and was more organized and numerically inclined. Although, after I was done sorting and counting them, I would build something that didn’t have instructions; a car, a house, a giant man. Though I enjoyed the sorting process, I also was very imaginative in the situations I would conjure up for the tiny Lego men. Looking back, I can see that one hemisphere does not dominate the other, but I can have characteristics from both sides of the brain.
Most people believe that a person is either right or left brained. This is untrue in that a person can be more inclined to have more prodigious number skills, but not so much that it limits them to only take a numerical approach. Everyone has traits from both sides of the brain, it just depends on how they utilize those traits.