"Check out our Brain"

1. LEFT AND RIGHT BRAIN
OBJECTIVES:
 To define the Left and Right Brain
 To discuss and difference the Left and Right Brain and its functions
 To give an examples and descriptions to visualize further the left and Right Brain
 To understand the cycles of the Brain
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BRAIN
Early philosophers were divided as to whether the seat of the soul lies in the brain or heart.
Aristotle favored the heart, and thought that the function of the brain was merely to cool the bloo d.
Democritus, the inventor of the atomic theory of matter, argued for a three-part soul, with intellect in
the head, emotion in the heart, and lust near the liver. Hippocrates, the "father of medicine", came
down unequivocally in favor of the brain. In his treatise on epilepsy he wrote:
Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and
sports, and sorrows, grief, despondency, and lamentations. ... And by the same organ we become
mad and delirious, and fears and terrors assail us, some by night, and some by day, and dreams
and untimely wanderings, and cares that are not suitable, and ignorance of present circumstances,
desuetude, and unskillfulness. All these things we endure from the brain, when it is not healthy...
- Hippocrates, On the Sacred Disease

2. INTRODUCTION
Can you imagine what your brain looks like? Close your eyes for a few seconds
and visualize it positioned in the space inside your head; then, open your eyes again.
What did you see? Actually, your brain looks like an English walnut with the shell removed. It
has a deeply wrinkled surface with a clearly marked fold that divides it into a left and a right
half.
The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and
most invertebrate animals—only a few invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, adult sea
squirts and starfish do not have a brain, even if diffuse neural tissue is present. It is located in the
head, usually close to the primary sensory organs for such senses as vision, hearing, balance, taste,
and smell. The brain is the most complex organ in a vertebrate's body. In a typical human,
the cerebral cortex (the largest part) is estimated to contain 15–33 billion neurons, each connected
by synapses to several thousand other neurons. These neurons communicate with one another by
means of long protoplasmic fibers called axons, which carry trains of signal pulses called action
potentials to distant parts of the brain or body targeting specific recipient cells.
DEFINITION OF LEFT AND RIGHT BRAIN
In general, the left and right hemispheres of our brain process information in different ways.
While we have a natural tendency towards one way of thinking, the two sides of our brain work
together in our everyday lives. The right brain of the brain focuses on the visual, and processes
information in an intuitive and simultaneous way, looking first at the whole picture then the details. The

3. focus of the left brain is verbal, processing information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first
at the pieces then putting them together to get the whole.
This theory of the structure and functions of the mind suggests that the two
different sides of the brain control two different “modes” of thinking. It also suggests that
each of us prefers one mode over the other.
Left brain thinking is verbal and analytical. Right brain is non-verbal and intuitive, using
pictures rather than words. The best illustration of this is to listen to people give directions. The
left brain person will say something like “From here, go west three blocks and turn north on Vine
Street. Go three or four miles and then turn east onto Broad Street.” The right brain person will
sound something like this: “Turn right (pointing right), by the church over there (pointing again).
Then you will pass a McDonalds and a Walmart. At the next light, turn right toward the Esso
station.”

4. Though right-brain or non-verbal thinking is often regarded as more ‘creative’,
there is no right or wrong here; it is merely two different ways of thinking. One is not
better than the other, just as being right-handed is not ‘superior’ to being left-handed.
What is important is to be aware that there are different ways of thinking, and by
knowing what your natural preference is, you can pay attention to your less dominant
side to improve the same. You are hardly alone if you believe that humanity is divided into two
great camps: the left-brain and the right-brain thinkers — those who are logical and analytical vs.
those who are intuitive and creative. For years, an industry of books, tests and videos has flourished
on this concept. It seems to be natural law.
Experimentation has shown that the two different sides, or hemispheres, of the
brain are responsible for different manners of thinking. The following table illustrates the
differences between left-brain and right-brain thinking: Most individuals have a distinct
preference for one of these styles of thinking. Some, however, are more whole-brained
and equally adept at both modes.
In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying
the right-brain ones. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking, analysis,
and accuracy. Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on aesthetics, feeling,
and creativity.

5. REFERENCES
http://painting.about.com/od/rightleftbrain/a/Right_Brain.htm: By Marion Boddy-Evans.
http://www.funderstanding.com/brain/right-brain-vs-left-brain/#sthash.hs6iaARt.dpuf