Brain Balance
The Left Brain
The left side of the brain is the “linear logical” hemisphere and controls the right side of the body. The left hemisphere perceives the world in bits and pieces and loves to organize and categorize. It is also the language hemisphere and is involved with auditory processing, phonics and sounding out words. It also gives readers “that little silent voice” inside the head while reading. Math also is a left hemisphere activity. In conclusion, the left side of the brain is the “try” side. When trying a new activity, it is the left hemisphere that comes into play.
In modern schools in America, most of the expectations are those that are on the left side of the brain. Students are judged by their left brain abilities. If the student is right brain dominant, then the schools will often judge the student to be failing.
The Right Brain
The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and is quite a bit different than the left side of the brain. The right hemisphere is responsible for movement, especially automatic movement. Many right-brain dominant students are in perpetual motion, especially when concentrating. Movement allows them to keep the right side busy so they can function in the left side. As previously mentioned, America’s modern schools are judging students primarily on left hemisphere activities. As the right-brain dominant student wiggles and tries to stay in the left side of the brain, he/she will often be misdiagnosed as hyperactive or having ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). I wonder how many right-brain dominant students are misdiagnosed as having ADHD and are put on medications that they don’t need.
The right hemisphere likes rhythm and music. It is attracted to shapes, colors, and patterns. The right hemisphere makes pictures in the mind while reading. In addition, it is the emotional side of the brain. Many right-brain dominant people have a tendency to get “stuck” in their emotions. They may have temper problems or get their feelings hurt frequently. Right-brain dominant people have the ability to put together parts into a whole. These people can stand back and see the whole picture. However, sometimes they become overwhelmed and tasks seem too big to accomplish.
These students are often unorganized and will fall behind on their assignments. When push comes to shove and they are forced to make up their work, they become so overwhelmed that they just freeze and get nothing done. Also, daydreaming is a right brain activity, which makes it difficult for teachers to know if they are listening or daydreaming. Overall, right-brain dominant kids are creative, humorous and delightful to be around. They are often misjudged and have so much potential in classes if we could just adjust our definitions of learning and success.
Brain Balance
It is obvious that we need both sides of the brain to work together in harmony for learning and a balanced life. For instance, to read, a person needs to constantly be accessing both the left and right hemispheres of the brain simultaneously. If a student is “stuck” in one side of the brain, then reading becomes difficult because the student isn’t able to access the other side of the brain. In the middle of the brain is a bundle of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum. It is basically the network of circuitry that allows the left and right hemisphere to communicate with each other freely.
In people who have integration problems, the corpus callosum acts as a wall instead of an integration device. If someone has dyslexia, visual information taken in bounces off of the wall and comes out differently, perhaps backward or upside down. Some people receive auditory information that bounces off the wall and is lost. These people don’t have the necessary “Velcro” to hold auditory information in their brains. They in turn have a difficult time concentrating, holding on to what is heard, and tuning out extraneous information. These students can’t hold directions in auditory memory, either. They might lose certain parts of sounds that are heard such as the middle of a word or the end of a sentence. They hear just bits and pieces, which can cause a great deal of confusion. It can isolate the student as well, since we build relationships through verbal communication.
When babies are born, the corpus callosum isn’t integrated. Physical movement wires the brain to do simple tasks, such as sucking a thumb. As the baby grows, physical activities increase until the baby crawls. This crawling activates both sides of the brain simultaneously and teaches them to work together. The eyes of an infant or child activate the brain. For instance, when a baby is crawling and looking up, the visual memory center of the brain is activated. This sets the stage for later learning. If the baby misses the activation of one of an area related to learning, then a learning problem can occur later on.
