Left vs. Right Brain –Find out which one works for you

Left vs Right Brain

You might have heard about people talking about their right brain being dominant or their left brain being dominant. You might have read about it in books or newspapers, or seen it in a movie or infographics online. Many articles might have stated that the left-brained people are logical and good with numbers. Also, right-brained people are thought to be more creative & emotionally expressive. But you will be surprised to know all the facts and myths related to the functioning of the left vs right brain.

The Left-Brain & Right-Brain Theory

The brain is surely the most important and complex organs of the human body. It is known to contain billions of neurons and trillions of connections. According to medical science, the human brain constitutes two different cerebral hemispheres i.e. the right and the left. These two hemispheres communicate with each other through the Corpus Callosum, a massive cluster of nerve fibers. The brain is a constantly evolving organ, which keeps adapting and learning new things with time & incidents.

The two hemispheres of the brain look the same but the way they function and process everything is different. Although, both these work in sync with each other, yet cutting the link between these two wouldn’t completely stop the body from functioning. But it will lead to various impairments in the body functioning.

The medical science experts are still working on finding more about the functions and characteristics of the two hemispheres.

Medical science also states that the left hemisphere of the brain controls the muscles on the right side of the body. Similarly, the right hemisphere of the brain controls the muscles on the left side of the body. Thus, an injury to the right hemisphere can cause problems in the body’s left side, and vice versa.

Let’s check out everything about the brain that has been found by medical scientists till now.

The Right Brain (RB)

The right brain (also known as the analog brain) is said to be responsible for qualities like creativity and conveying emotions. Therefore, this one helps in performing intuitive and illustrative functions.

Some of the key functions and characteristics of the right brain are listed below.

Facial Recognition – It is responsible for remembering and identifying the faces of people you have seen or met in your life.

Expressing Emotions – It helps you to express all kinds of emotions like love, joy, grief, anger, greed, confusion, etc.

Feeling Music – If you enjoy listening to music while feeling it, your RB is enabling you to do it.

Understanding Emotions – It helps you to understand the emotions of others, when they express joy, grief, anger, love, etc.

Subjective to Visualizations – This part of the brain focuses on visualizing everything rather than focusing on words.

Imagination Enthusiast – Do you ever think about how easily you can imagine your thoughts or fantasize things you see? The answer is your right brain.

Instinctive – If you ever have a gut feeling about something that’s going to happen, then you should know that the RB is the reason behind it.

Goal-Oriented – Rather than focusing on the small hurdles or steps, it keeps you focused on the main goal i.e. the big picture.

Impulsive & Risk-Taker – Do you ever feel like just diving into something and not caring much about the consequences? If yes, then you are a right-brainer at that time.

 Visually Distinctive – It also helps you in distinguishing different colors, shapes, images and everything visual.

The Left Brain (LB)

The left brain (also known as the digital brain) is responsible for characteristics like verbal communication, logical thinking & systematic approach. This is why the LB is better at calculations, language, and analysis.

Some of the main functions and features of the left brain are as follows :

Analytical– The left brain focuses on analyzing everything including situations, people, behavior, etc.

Logical – It always seeks the logic behind everything and also, the thoughts of the LB are always logical i.e. finding the reason.

Detail-Centered – It also tends to look and observe every little detail possible i.e. curiosity to know everything about everything.

Language & Semantics – The words you speak, how you speak them and the correctness of those, everything is controlled by the left brain.

Mathematics & Science – As the LB helps you be good at logic and numbers, it automatically makes you better at mathematics and science.

Understanding – It helps you to understand everything better i.e. studies, people, situations, and all other things.

Subjective to Words – Unlike the RB, the left brain thinks about everything in words rather than visualizations.

Risk Avoider – If you always consider the consequences before making the final decision about something, your LB is responsible for it.

Reality Focused – It always focuses on the truth behind everything rather than thinking about the possibilities i.e. it is more realistic than the RB.

Factual & Considerate – The LB makes you look for the facts rather than imagining everything. Moreover, it considers everything important rather than being reckless.

Which Is Dominant, Left-Brain or Right Brain?

Many people and medical scientists have come up with the question, which hemisphere of the brain is dominant? Is it the left one or the right one?

The answer hascomes from many types of research that the brain is not biased to a particular side of itself. The neural networks on both sides have their specific functionalities and the two side work in sync with each other.

The left and the right brain connect through a cluster of nerve fibers that act as a medium of communication between both hemispheres.

Thus, both sides of your brain are working simultaneously all the time, enhancing each other’s functionalities. For example, if you are talking to someone, the left brain will help you in understanding the words while the right one will help in understanding the context & emotions.