Do you know your brain dominance?
The human brain is a complex organ responsible for intelligence, senses, movement, and behavior (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2007, ¶ 1). The halves of the brain—the “right brain” and the “left brain”—perform different functions and communicate information with each other through a band of nerves that connect them. The right side of the brain controls most of the movement and functions of the left side of the body, and the left side of the brain controls most of the movements and functions of the right side of the body.
You may hear that someone is a “right-brained” or “left-brained” individual. This is called “brain dominance,” meaning that an individual has a natural preference for processing information on one side of the brain. The right side is considered the intuitive or spontaneous side, while the left side is logical. Knowing an individual’s brain dominance can help you understand his/her “ways” of thinking, behaving, speaking, and functioning. Also, it can help parents and educators tailor activities to a child’s natural learning preferences.
How can we know if someone is "Right brained?"
Right-brain characteristics include creativity, the ability to see patterns, spatial awareness, and the understanding of how things relate to one another in different contexts. You may find that individuals with this brain dominance are good at recognizing faces, places, and objects (Sousa, 1995, p. 88). These individuals seem to “have a knack for”:
- “Out-of-the-box” thinking
- Art, including the ability to draw, paint, sculpt, etc.
- Imaginative thinking
- Music, including the ability to play instruments with ease or to recognize a song melody and play it back upon “hearing it”
Keep in mind that “right-brained” individuals may exhibit one or several of these traits.
How can we know if someone is "Left brained?"
Left-brain characteristics include a gift for language, analytical skills, and mathematical concepts such as time and sequence. You may find that individuals with this brain dominance are good with letters, numbers, and words (Sousa, 1995, p. 88). These individuals seem to “have a knack for”:
- Language skills including reading, writing, and speaking
- Math
- Logic and reasoning
- Science