Myths and misconceptions about the hemispheres of the brain

This organization makes it possible to carry out and coordinate all the functions of the nervous system – many of which are very complex. And for this, the two hemispheres divide their work.

Think of a large office building owned by the same company. In it we will find different floors, with different departments, different departments and different people working in each of these areas.

Each department has a function, but they are all interrelated. And more than that, they maintain close contact with each other, because the correct operation of one depends on what the others do.

The cerebral hemispheres work in a similar way. They share the work to be done.

That is, although the two halves are involved in a particular function, one of them may be more attached to that task than the other.

This process works in the same way as that of a large company.

The billing department is responsible for the process, but other departments must do their share of the work to complete the process. Like the dispatch segment, for example, which will send the bill to its recipient.

It is at this point that the myth begins that the brain is divided into two halves, and depending on which side we use more often, we will have this or that ability. It’s called the “dominant hemisphere” theory.

She argues that if you are good at math, language or logic, it is because your left hemisphere is dominant. And if you are an artistic person, have a talent for drawing or music, then the dominant hemisphere is right.

This theory helps misclassify people into two types: objective, rational and analytical on the one hand; Or passionate, dreamy and creative, on the other hand.

Nothing is further from reality. There is no dominant hemisphere.

This myth probably has its origins in a meeting of the Anthropological Society in Paris, France, in 1865.

The culprit may be, albeit unwittingly, the French physician Paul Broca. “We speak with the left hemisphere,” he emphasized, referring to the areas of the brain that have the greatest influence on language function, which are located on this side of the brain.

The fact that most of a given function is located in both hemispheres, as with language and the left hemisphere of the brain, does not mean that this hemisphere is dominant in people with greater language ability.

When a singer memorizes the lyrics and melody of a song, for example, the functions related to the verbalization of the words are on his left side, but he will use the right half to express the musicality of the song. In other words, it is a team effort.

His results show that we all use both hemispheres equally, although the activity recorded in each will depend on ‘what we do’.

It has also been shown that the side of the brain used in a particular activity may not be the same for everyone. Analytics show There are differences between individuals regarding the region or hemisphere of the brain used for a particular action.

The dominant hemisphere myth is still very much alive to this day. In part, that’s because there are so many unknown aspects of how the human brain works. And the more we dig, the more we realize how complex it is.

Therefore, when arguments are made to try to explain this complex functioning, simplistic explanations keep popping up, such as a neat separation of functions into cerebral regions and hemispheres.

If this were the case, injury to one of these highly specialized areas would render that functional area no longer useful to the injured person. But that’s not exactly how it happens. Our nervous system has a certain flexibility.

It has already been found that in people who have lost one of the senses (such as sight), the area of ​​the brain responsible for processing it, without receiving visual information, sometimes adapts to improve the perception of other senses, such as touch. This phenomenon improves tactile reading learning of the Braille alphabet, for example.

From this scientific and social lack of knowledge about the overall functioning of the brain, as it always does, emerge beneficiaries.

They are those people who use pseudoscientific language, offering explanations and solutions to everything, trying to take advantage of the uncertainty of the most vulnerable.

They make people believe, for example, that we can determine which hemisphere we should use to modify our abilities, abilities, and personality, or the way we experience the vicissitudes of life.

Moreover, as with other sectors such as human health, neuroscience has not been able to get rid of the spread of myths and rumors through social networks.

But, although there are still doubts about some aspects of the functioning of the human brain, we are sure that the talent and character of people is not determined by the dominance of one hemisphere over the other.

And it must always be emphasized, to avoid human situations, that we are not the only animal with segmented brain functions.

Supporting the myth of hemispheres dominance is dangerous in many ways – especially in the field of education, because it limits students’ opportunities to learn and develop.

If we mistakenly believe that there are students who are “right-brained” (more creative) or “left-brained” (more analytical), we classify the students into two categories.

This classification limits their learning opportunities, restricts their interests, and prevents them from developing in other subjects. All this reduces their future career paths.

In short, no brain hemisphere is more important than the other and the two function as one. And in fact, brain activity is not the same and varies from person to person.

* José A. Morales García is a scientific researcher in neurodegenerative diseases and a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Complutense University in Madrid, Spain.

Conchi Lillo is a researcher in visual diseases and professor at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Salamanca, Spain.