Brain is the central part of the nervous system of humans and animals, the main body of the psyche. Among the many functions performed by the brain, a very important place is occupied by the implementation of higher mental activity that has reached a particularly high level of development among human beings. Information from a projection area of the cerebral cortex, its specific treatment and the formation of feelings lead to the fact that in associative areas, based on their analysis and synthesis, as well as a comparison with the previous experience of life, that is retrieved from the annals of memory, formed the more complex categories - concepts and reporting necessary for interpreting reality and forming an adequate understanding of the situation and thought processes.
Innate ability, play and work skills, accumulating experience ensure the formation of higher mental functions, which manifest, in particular, to a high level of capabilities, knowledge and the ability to commit a complex motor acts, e.g. to the development of gnosis (from the Greek. gnosis - knowledge, recognition, objective perception) and praxis (from the Greek. praxis - action). Improvement of gnosis and practice led to the possibility of formation of a new stage in the development of human mental activity - speech. Speech, language contributed to the development of abstract thinking - the highest achievement of nature, resulting in the fact that a person by mastering the speech was able to achieve an exceptional position among the living beings inhabiting the Earth.
“About 90 percent of people are right-handed” ( Price, 2009). As for the remaining 10% - this number is comprised or left-handed people as well as ambidextrous (those that do not have a dominant part, hand at all, their number is usually less than 1% of the world’s population). “According to the theory of left-brain or right-brain dominance, each side of the brain controls different types of thinking. “ (Cherry, 2012). Thus, almost all of us have lateralized brains. With evolution the brain has developed into two hemispheres that stand for different cognitive responsibilities.
The functional asymmetry of the left and right hemispheres can be seen as an evolutionary acquisition, reflecting the exceptionally high level of functional differentiation of the brain achieved by the mankind. According to the hypothesis, the evolvement of abstract thought and speech in the distant ancestors of modern humans took over the left hemisphere. As a direct consequence to this - the right hand gradually became more active and at the same time stronger and more agile. Abstract thinking and speech gradually improved and acquired play the important role in humans’ lives.
In the right hemisphere developed functions of a particular thinking, perception and differentiation of non-speech sounds, and music. It is believed that the right hemisphere has the advantage in providing self-consciousness, in the implementation of the orientation, in the recognition of people's individual features of the face, the voice, in the design of object-related actions.
Functions of Hemispheres:
Left and Right sides of the brain are responsible for different ways of thinking. Moreover, some types of thinking are usually more preferred than the others (it depends on the dominant hemisphere). It is said that “left-brained” people are considered to be more logical and objective whilst at the same time the other part of population is believed to be more intuitive and subjective.
The right part of the brain is considered to be much more adaptive to creative tasks. The detailed characteristic is the following:
- Right side stands for facial recognitions
- Expresses emotions and feelings
- Perception of sounds and music
- Reading and understanding emotions
- Colors and shades
- Creativity
- Intuition
- Images
“The left-side of the brain is considered to be adept at tasks that involve logic, language and analytical thinking.” (Cherry, 2012). It is possible to describe the left side of the brain by the following key factors:
- Critical and logical thinking
- Math
- Language
- Reasoning
Finally, we are all different and every single one of us has either left or right part of the brain more developed. But the truth is that brain is a very complicated mechanism. It operates on the basis of equality between the left and right hemispheres. Each of them is responsible for a certain tasks as described during the research. It is summed up by the balance of rationality and creativity.
References
The left brain knows what the right hand is doing. (n.d.). American Psychological Association (APA). Retrieved August 25, 2013, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/01/brain.aspx
Cherry, K. (n.d.). Left Brain vs Right Brain - Understanding Left Brain and Right Brain Dominance. Psychology - Complete Guide to Psychology for Students, Educators & Enthusiasts. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/a/left-brain-right-brain.htm
Differences Between Left and Right Hemisphere. (n.d.). Differences Between Left and Right Hemisphere. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from capone.mtsu.edu/studskl/hd/hemis.html
No Cookies | Herald Sun. (n.d.). No Cookies | Herald Sun. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/right-brain-v-left-brain/story-e6frf7jo-1111114603615
