Scientists have studied the characteristics of people with a developed right hemisphere of the brain

The idea that some people are predominantly "left—brained" while others are "right-brained" has long been used to explain differences in character and abilities. However, the peculiarities of the brain do not allow us to divide people into such types, and creativity is not an exclusive function of the right hemisphere. About why the division of people into "left-hemisphere" and "right-hemisphere" turned out to be a myth — in the material of Izvestia.

Where did the division into "left-hemisphere" and "right-hemisphere" come from

The history of ideas about the specialization of the cerebral hemispheres began in the 19th century. In the 1860s, French physician Paul Broca discovered that speech was primarily associated with the left hemisphere. This was one of the first indications that the two halves of the brain can perform different functions.

In the 20th century, American neuroscientist Roger Sperry and his colleagues continued to study the specialization of the hemispheres. In studies of people who have undergone surgery to separate nerve fibers between the two halves of the brain, scientists have found differences in their work. In particular, the left hemisphere was more specialized in language, while the right hemisphere was more specialized in emotional and non—verbal information processing.

However, over time, the scientific idea of the specialization of individual functions was simplified to the idea of the existence of two types of personality. Logical and attentive to details people began to be called "left—brained", and creative and intuitive people - "right-brained".

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What the brain study showed

In 2013, scientists tested whether there really is a general "left-hemisphere" or "right-hemisphere" dominance. To do this, the researchers analyzed MRI scans of more than 1,000 people and examined over 7,000 brain regions. The work is published on the Medical Xpress portal.

Scientists have indeed discovered functions that are more concentrated in certain areas and on a certain side of the brain. Speech and attention, for example, demonstrated pronounced lateralization — specialization of functions mainly in one hemisphere.

At the same time, the researchers found no evidence that such features form different types of people depending on their personality or abilities. There was also no pattern according to which a more pronounced specialization of one hemisphere would automatically mean a less pronounced specialization of the other. As a result, the authors of the study concluded that the data obtained does not support the idea of people as predominantly "left-hemisphere" or "right-hemisphere."

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Creativity requires the work of the whole brain

Research on creative thinking also does not confirm its connection exclusively with the right hemisphere. According to scientific research, creative activity requires a distributed network of brain activity that covers both hemispheres.

At the same time, there is some truth in the popular view. Individual functions can indeed be more strongly controlled by one side of the brain. Moreover, a 2013 study showed that people with a more pronounced specialization of a particular function in one hemisphere can perform related tasks better.

For example, the more lateralized a person's language functions were in the left hemisphere, the higher the indicators of his linguistic activity turned out to be. Thus, individual differences in brain specialization exist and can affect the performance of specific tasks. But it is incorrect to transfer them to the personality of a person as a whole.

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Why does the myth of two types of brains continue to exist

According to the authors of the material, the prevalence of the idea of "left-hemisphere" and "right-hemisphere" people may be due to the fact that the real scientific fact turned out to be oversimplified. Indeed, different sides of the brain may have different degrees of specialization, but this does not imply the existence of two opposite personality types.

An additional role may be played by the so-called Barnum effect. It lies in the fact that people tend to recognize themselves in fairly general personality descriptions if they are informed that these characteristics relate specifically to them. After adopting a certain label, a person may pay more attention to the features that correspond to it, and less to those that contradict it. As a result, the idea of one's own "brain type" is able to reinforce itself.

Logic and creativity work together

Specialization of individual brain functions does exist, but it does not mean dividing a person into a "logician" and a "creator." Most complex activities involve both hemispheres, and creativity is no exception.

Therefore, the presence of artistic abilities, developed intuition, or a tendency to creative thinking does not in itself mean that a person's right hemisphere "dominates". Similarly, a love of numbers and attention to detail do not make a person exclusively "left-brained." Scientific evidence suggests a specialization of individual brain functions, but not two universal types of human thinking.