The Brain
Left Hemisphere vs. Right Hemisphere
Vocab: Hemisphere
• Hemi = Half (Greek)
• Sphere = Circle
• Hemisphere= half of a sphere or circle
• What else has hemispheres?
Left/Right Hemisphere Specialization
LEFT• Analytic thought
– Step by step process
• Logic– Conclusions based upon a
logical or consecutive order
• Language– Using words to
name/describe/define
• Math & Science– Number use, awareness of
time, symbols, facts & linear reasoning
RIGHT• Spatial Reasoning• Face Recognition• Intuition
– Insight based upon incomplete patterns or “hunches”
• Creativity– Demonstrative with minimal
word use, understanding relationships
• Art & Music– Putting pieces together to form
“wholes”
Left/Right Hemisphere Specialization
LEFT RIGHT
Say the COLOR not the word
PURPLE
GREEN YELLOW
BLUE REDORANGE
Hemispheres Crisscross
Information received from one side of the body is transmitted to the opposite
hemisphere.
Left Brained or Right Brained?• People often believe they are
either right or left brained– “I’m right brained because I’m
creative”
BUT your Brain works best when the 2 hemispheres
work together
Left & Right: Working Together
• Both hemispheres can:• analyze sensory data • perform memory functions • learn new information • form thoughts• make decisions
• The way you use these abilities determines a large part of your personality and behavior
Left & Right: Working Together• By the time we, are two years old, one
hemisphere begins to dominate decision-making processes
• Communication between the two halves is possible due to the corpus callosum and this process continues to improve until the age of 15
Corpus Callosum
• Connects the two hemispheres of the brain– Significantly larger in
musicians– Slightly larger in left
handed people– The bridge of the brain
Split-Brain Operations
• The corpus callosum is cut• Helps people who suffer from severe
epilepsy – They have severe seizures – Cutting the corpus callosum prevents the
seizures from spreading, reducing the severity
BUT the surgery has some subtle effects on functioning…
After Split-Brain Operations
• If a patient is holding an object in their right hand and asked to describe it they can
• But if they have an object in their left hand they have a hard time explaining what the object is
WHY Do you think this is?
Ways to Study the Brain• Accidents
– Phineas Gage– Plasticity: brain’s ability to reorganize information
• If one area of the brain is damaged, other areas in time, may reorganize and take over functions of the damaged area
Ways to Study the Brain
• Electrical Stimulation of the Brain• Electroencephalogram (EEG)
– A device that records the
electrical activity of the brain
• Scans– CAT Scans– MRI
More Ways To Study The Brain
• Get into groups of four– The groups you were in to build the brain models
• Each group will receive a topic from section 2• Create a poster with key terms and facts• Present to the class