Dear all,

Thank you for excellent contributions. I have attached some links for brain dominance test. I did a similar one before and My left brain was heavily dominating. I guess most engineers are the same due to their training!.

Dear Costas, Thank you for the article. I looked at briefly and it is very interesting. I should read it more carefully later.

http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3178

http://www.ipn.at/ipn.asp?BHX

http://www.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm

Right-brain or left-brain dominance, each side of the brain controls different types of thinking. People are said to prefer one type of thinking over the other. 

see the following links

Are you a left or a right brain person? Verbal & analytical or visual & artistic? Is there any science behind the stereotypes or is it all new-age waffle?

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/06/24/2856996.htm

Great question. This is embedded in popular culture and its fascination with lateralization. Your description of direction-giving was interesting as well. Most people however, do a combination of both-- combining sequential steps with actual street names as well as using actual landmarks to better connect with the direction-seeker. I'm not sure though about how many people use actual cardinal directions (North, South, East, west) unless they have a GPS system open on their mobile devices.

Going back to the concept of laterlization, it is true that specific hemispheres of the brain are responsible for generating specific functions like speech, analytical thought, creativity etc, it actually takes both hemispheres of the brain to process all of these functions. Experiments conducted on brain scans in the University of Utah found that while certain pockets in the brain register high neural traffic during specific processes, neural activity is not confined to one hemisphere, thus challenging the brain dominance theory. For example, music is often considered to be a right-brain activity but the technical notations, sounds, and counts may actually be getting processed in the left hemisphere and simultaneously combining with the emotional features and sensory responses of the music as discerned by the right brain.

It is probably the interconnections between the two hemispheres across the corpus callosum that determine how well we do things more than our preference for particular sides. While the brain can register higher activity in certain hemispheres, the end product is usually a collaborative venture.

I Think: Life style, thinking, Thoughts and views Depends on Right - Left brain dominance

Dear @Behrouz, this is a very interesting and important question. The longitudinal fissure separates the human brain into two distinct cerebral hemispheres, connected by the corpus callosum. The hemispheres exhibit strong, but not complete, bilateral symmetry in both structure and function. For example, structurally, the lateral sulcus generally is longer in the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere, and functionally, Broca's area and Wernicke's area are located in the left cerebral hemisphere for about 95% of right-handers, but about 70% of left-handers.

See the following link for the details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function

What I wish to add is that brains can be conditioned through training. One latest study (I heard from radio but cannot remember who did the research where) found that an intensive training program can cause detectable changes in brains but after a long while without revisiting the training program and the physical chnages gradually disappeared. This study is significant to educationers and it indicates we can condition our brains to gain and keep memory, for example.

 Gognition, Mathematics and Synthetic Reasoning

I have dealt with this question in my paper 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261412431_Gognition_Mathematics_and_Synthetic_Reasoning?ev=prf_pub.

Applying this lateralization to mathematics, you can have a very delicate understanding of mathematics itself. Even if did not exist, I think one should discover this lateralization.

I should add here that many west thinkers regard this lateralization as speculative!

The following picture express mathematics as a quintessense:

Chapter Gognition, Mathematics and Synthetic Reasoning

Here is the picture:

What I simply know about the  left brain-guided people is that they are more rational  and analytical in their thinking and understanding. But those who are dominated by the right brain are more intuitive, empathetic, compassionate and caring than the former.

Dear all,

Thank you for excellent contributions. I have attached some links for brain dominance test. I did a similar one before and My left brain was heavily dominating. I guess most engineers are the same due to their training!.

Dear Costas, Thank you for the article. I looked at briefly and it is very interesting. I should read it more carefully later.

http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3178

http://www.ipn.at/ipn.asp?BHX

http://www.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm

 Dear Behrouz,

It is quite interesting question and surely there would be different views on it. I see brain in the context of computer where right brain acts as sensor to acquire information. The left brain functions as Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) to process the acquired information in a logical and analytical way. The focus of my recent research is more on “left brain”.  

In contrary to popular belief, our brain is not actually divided into two spheres. However, the Neocortex which makes two-thirds of the brain is the most advanced part and the two sides of it determine how we think, and whether we are "right-brained" or "left-brained." This dominance, in turn, decides how the rest of the Neocortex will work. Left-brain dominant people are more likely to be clinical and cold in their judgments and problem solving. Language recognition is a function of the left hemisphere, too, and that makes languages easier for those with left-brain dominance. Strangely enough, the left brain is wired to the right brain; the left brain controls the right brain. The right hemisphere is associated with cognitive skills, such as creativity, emotion and intuitiveness. It also controls the left side of the body, so right-brained people are often left-handed. Further, left-brained ways of thinking are generally favoured over right-brained, primarily because of the logical and analytical skills of left-brained. Right brain concentrates on the visual and artistic, using metaphors, movement and role-playing. Again, certain specific characteristics are commonly found in right-brain dominant individuals, such as being good at art or sports, and being able to memorize words or lyrics easily.  A lot of what we consider either left or right brain activity is actually being done on both sides. A study has revealed that while activity was sometimes higher in certain important regions, both sides of the brain were essentially equal in their activity on average. Most people are more or less equal on both sides of the brain. Conclusively, a label of left- or right-brained is not important, because both hemispheres are functioning. In other words, most people are not entirely one or the other; there is usually a mix, with a little more preference toward one or other side of the brain.

Dear Behrouz,

 In reality I do not understand why so many people and so often, even if they are disadvantaged, are right-wing economic-social-political thinkers - even when they do not acknowledge that.. As from Your brain picture there has to be anthropological equilibrium in people's thinking, so what is missing?

Yours Arvydas

Dear Arvydas,

The picture is taken from the attached link.(UCMAS) . Here is some information about UCMAS:

Universal Concept of Mental ArithmeticSystems (UCMAS) is an international educational organization globally recognized as a leader in whole brain development and mental arithmetic training. Founded by Dr. Dino Wong in 1993 in Malaysia, UCMAS Education Group has trained more than one million children in UCMAS Mental Math Schools around the world.

UCMAS has gained in popularity and currently operates from over 5,000 centres in 49 countries, including Canada, United States, United Kingdom, India, China and Australia.

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 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.

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.”

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.

http://www.ucmas.ca/our-programs/whole-brain-development/left-brain-vs-right-brain/

Do you think that inter-individual differences in asymmetric brain dominance has a genetic (e.g. inherited from ancesters) or an environmental basis (e.g. influenced by education)? If there is a genetic basis, does this imply that there is a biological basis for competence/task specialisations (e.g. Person A is giften in Mathematics whereas person B is giften in Psychology because of inter-individual differences in asymmetric brain dominance).

What is the impact of asymmetric brain dominance in personality expressions? Can asymmetric brain dominance can produce a personality syndrome (e.g. shy-slow explorers versus bold-fast explorers)? 

Thought provoking remarks by Marcel, neuroscience experts may respond. 

Dear Kamal, the experiments of lateralization was based on some accidents in which the one half have been destroyed. Then they have the chance to observe the other half. In many cases the active half try to cover some functions done before from the other half.  I do not have reference easily accessed but we can find if necessary. In conclusion brain can work (with a lot of problems)  even with only one half!      

I have little information in this subject. I think that each spot in the brain has a particular function. All the spots work in a coordinated manner but no spot has total independence. The whole brain activity depends on perception of something & the brain will interpret the thing based on previous information stored within the brain.

Perception is a chemical process, storage memory arranges information on carrier compounds , brain activity involves chemical conversions that deal with oxidation of phosphorus & glucose. All this sums up to a giant  but small-sized chemical plant working in highly systematic manner.

An informative paper:

Dear Costas,

Thank you for the interesting article. I highlighted the major findings:

The major argument of article is that the human brain shows a substantial interaction between structurally, or ‘bottom-up’ asymmetry and cognitively, or ‘top-down’ modulation, through a focus of attention to the right or left side in auditory space. These results open up a more dynamic and interactive view of functional brain asymmetry than the traditional static view that the brain is lateralized, or asymmetric, only for specific stimuli and stimulus properties.

If I remember well, the brain can use different neuron-based pathways to solve the same (learning) problem. Much work has been done in songbirds used as model species for underlying proximate mechanisms of learning.

I wonder whether  these right and Left brains exist or it is just a kind of hypothesis? 

Followers of this thread may find the attached video interesting:

It is a very nice educational video that explain the difference between left and right Brain. I recommend it to everyone!

 This Scientific American Frontiers (Introductory Psychology Video Collection, 2nd Edition) supplements discussion of the structure and functions of the cerebral cortex. Features Dartmouth University's Michael Gazzaniga, and Joe, an epileptic who had his corpus callosum severed to stop daily seizures. Cutting the corpus callosum prevented the spread of the seizures from Joe's right hemisphere to his left, but it also prevented the two hemispheres from communicating with each other. Gazzaniga outlines his classic "split-brain" research paradigm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82tlVcq6E7A

http://www.learningace.com/doc/6450371/71b24c5cabd50c53917a06ab917ed986/right-brain-vs-left-brain

Dear Kamal and Abedallah,

That there are two hemispheres build on old brain is beyond doupt. 

Some references are:

= Bradshaw J.L. and N.C. Nettleton [1981] \The nature of hemispheric

specialization in man". The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 7, 51-91.

= Springer, S. P. and G. Deutch [1981] Left Brain, Right Brain, Freeman.

= Yu. I. MANIN Mathematics and Physics. Birkhauser, 1981, p.31-32

= Jet Nestruev, Smooth Manifolds and Observables. Springer GTM #

220, 2003. see  Appendix: A. M. Vinogradov Observability Principle, Set Theory and

the “Foundations of Mathematics”

Through the corpus calosum, of course the brain acts as if it was one brain. The important question is this: Why evolution build tow hemispheres? I beleive that between the tow hemispheres is in active a kind of dialectics which combines analytical-elementwise approach and holisitic-structural approach.

See my paper: 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261412431_Gognition_Mathematics_and_Synthetic_Reasoning?ev=prf_pub

Chapter Gognition, Mathematics and Synthetic Reasoning

And for my friend Kamal: Girl Living With Half Her Brain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MKNsI5CWoU

Dear respected @Kamal, thank you for your answer; I thought that a person with 2 brains might have problems when using one and not the another.

Dear respected @Behrouz, Thank you for the interesting video; I understand from the video that we do have only one brain; the functions of the brain are divided into 2 categories, left and right.

Dear friend @Costas, thank you for the interesting readings. I totally agree with you in that "the brain acts as if it was one brain."

Dear Abedallah,

I think that this "respected" it is not needed. It seems to me that you insist on the "one brain". This is true! But researcher have found that different parts of the brain are specialized for certain jobs. Thus the study of the structure of the brain, does not really destroy the uniqeness of it. I have first learn about right-left hemispheres from Manin: Yu. I. MANIN Mathematics and Physics. Birkhauser, 1981, p.31-32. There is a large group of Russian Geometers that refer to letf-right brain. Thus a unique brain with a lot of parts dealing with various objectives!

Dear  @Costas,

Thank you very much for the video link. The girl is living with right half of her brain after a brain surgery. The surgery made left part of the body  completely parallized. 

After a successful terapy she is doing fine now.

I  found it vey intersting. A great surgery at JHU and a good holywood style ending!

There are many Russian Geometers that refer to the left-right brain. Lat me quote soem from Yu. Manin.

Yu.Manin, Mathematics and Physics, pp.31-32:

“The brain consists of two hemispheres, a left hemisphere

and a right one, which are cross-connected with the right and

left halves of the body. The neuron connections between the

two hemispheres pass through the corpus callosum and commissures.

In neurosurgical practice there is a method of treatment

of severe epileptic seizures, in particular, which consists

of severing the corpus callosum and the commissures,

thereby breaking the direct connections between the hemispheres.

After such an operation patients are observed to

have "two perceptions". In the laconic formulation of the

American neuropsychologist K. Pribram, the results of studies

of such patients, and also patients with various injuries of

the left and right hemispheres, can be summarized in the

following way: "In right-handed persans the left hemisphere

processes information much as does the digital computer, while

the right hemisphere functions more according to the principles

of optical, holographic processing systems." In particular, the left 

hemisphere contains genetically and, more generally, syrnbolism, logic, the Latin "ratio"; the right hemisphere controls forms, gestalt-perception, intuition.

Normally, the functioning of human consciousness

continually displays a cornbination of these two components,

one of which may be manifested more noticeably than the

other. The discovery of their physiological basis sheds light

on the nature and typology of mathematical intellects and

even schools working on the foundations of mathematics.

One might conjecture that the two great intellects standing at

the cradle of modern mathematics, Newton and Leibniz, were,

respectively, right-hemispherical and left-hemispherical

types.”

From: Y. Manin, MATHEMATICAL KNOWLEDGE: INTERNAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS

“Our modernizing perspective suggests a more general consideration of several

modes of mental processes, in particular those related to mathematics. The following

two are the basic ones:

a) Conscious handling of a finite and discrete symbolic system, with explicitly

prescribed laws of formation of meaningful strings of symbols, constructing new

strings, and less explicit rules of deciding which strings are “interesting” (left brain,

linguistic, algebraic activity).

b) Largely subconscious handling of visual images, with implicit reliance upon

statistics of past experience, estimating probabilities of future outcomes, but also

judging balance, harmony, symmetry (right brain, visual arts and music, geometry).

Mental processes of mathematicians doing research must combine these two

modes in many sophisticated ways. This is not an easy task, in particular because

information processing rates are so astonishingly different, of the order 10

bit/sec for conscious symbolic processing, and 107 bit/sec for subconscious visual

processing (cf. [Nø]).”

Dear @Costas, thank you very much for the writing and all of these information and briliant thinking.

Hello everyone,

here's an interesting article on cerebral asymmetries.

http://www.plosbiology.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001767&representation=PDF

Dear Monica, thank you, nice article.Let me post some remarks from the book:

Geometry I: Basic Ideas and Concepts of Differential Geometry, Springer1991.

Lat me copy the corresponding section more clearly:

§ 1. Algebra and Geometry - the Duality of the Intellect

It is known from physiology that in the process of thinking the hemispheres

of the human brain fulfil different functions. The left one is the site of the

"rational" mind. In other words, this part of the brain carries out formal

deductions, reasons logically, and so on. On the other hand, imagination,

intuition, emotions and other components of the "irrational" mind are the

product of the right hemisphere. This division of labour can have the following

explanation.

The process of solving some problem or other by a human being or an artificial

mechanism involves the need to draw correct conclusions from correct premises.

The logical computations that carry out these functions in various specific

circumstances can easily be formulated algorithmically and thereby carried out

on modern computers. There are good reasons for supposing that the human

brain acts in a similar way and the left hemisphere is its "logical block". However,

the ability to argue logically is only half the problem, and apparently the simpler

half. In fact, to solve any complicated problem it is necessary to construct a

rather long chain, consisting of logically correct elements of the type "premise-

conclusion". However, from given premises it is possible to draw very many

correct conclusions. Therefore it is practically impossible to find the solution of

a complicated problem by randomly building up logically correct chains of the

form mentioned, in view of the large number of variants that arise. Thus the

problem we are posing is: in which direction should we reason? We can solve it

only if there are various mechanisms of selection and motivation, that is,

mechanisms that induce the thinking apparatus to consider only expedient versions.

Man solves this problem by using intuition and imagination. Thus, we can think

that the process of evolution of nature has led to the two most important aspects

of any thought process - the formally logical and the motivational - being

provided by the two functional blocks of the brain - its left and right hemispheres,

respectively.

Mathematics is the science that deals with pure thought. Therefore the two

main aspects of mental activity mentioned above must be revealed in its structure.

In fact, this is familiar to everyone from the school division of mathematics into

algebra and geometry. Apparently we can regard it as established experimentally

that an algebraist or analyst is a mathematician with a pronounced dominant

left hemisphere, while for a geometer it is the right hemisphere. Thus, if we

consider the body of mathematicians linked by various lines of communication,

having a common memory, in which there are mechanisms of stimulation and

repression, etc., as a thinking system, then geometry is the product of its right

hemisphere.

It is clear a priori that successful functioning of the intellect (natural or

artificial) can be ensured by balanced interaction of its right and left hemispheres,

acting on different levels. Hypertrophy of the function of the left hemisphere leads

to a phenomenon that can appropriately be called thought bureaucracy

(formalism, scholasticism, and so on). On the other hand, hypertrophy of the right

hemisphere leads to unsound fantasies and wandering in the clouds. For example,

F. Klein (Klein [1926]) writes: "We state here as a principle that we will always

combine the analytical and geometrical treatment of problems, and we shall not,

like many mathematicians, take a one-sided point of view. An analytical

treatment does not give a visual idea of the results obtained, while a geometrical

examination can only give an approximate basis for proof...".

We liken the development of thought in the solution of a problem to the

process of propagation of an electromagnetic wave, as a consequence of the

inductive connection of an electric field (E) and a magnetic field (H) (Fig. 1). We

venture to compare the left hemisphere (algebra) with E, and the right hemisphere

(geometry) with H, since a magnetic field does not have sources. Short-wave

oscillations of algebra-geometry type inevitably arise when one or several

investigators are working on a specific problem. Long waves of this kind, which

often interfere with one another in an odd way, are the waves of mathematical

history.

Fig. 1

If 20 years ago the formal algebraic spirit, personified by Nicolas Bourbaki,

dominated, nowadays the geometrical spirit is on the crest of the wave, with the

typical growth of interest shown by mathematicians in problems of physics and

i

New research at Utah university. 

Neuroscientists now assert that there is no evidence within brain imaging that indicates some people are right-brained or left-brained. For years in popular culture, the terms left-brained and right-brained have come to refer to personality types, with an assumption that some people use the right side of their brain more, while some use the left side more. Researchers have debunked that myth through identifying specific networks in the left and right brain that process lateralized functions.

Following a two-year study, University of Utah researchers have debunked that myth through identifying specific networks in the left and right brain that process lateralized functions. Lateralization of brain function means that there are certain mental processes that are mainly specialized to one of the brain's left or right hemispheres. During the course of the study, researchers analyzed resting brain scans of 1,011 people between the ages of seven and 29. In each person, they studied functional lateralization of the brain measured for thousands of brain regions -- finding no relationship that individuals preferentially use their left -brain network or right- brain network more often.

"It's absolutely true that some brain functions occur in one or the other side of the brain. Language tends to be on the left, attention more on the right. But people don't tend to have a stronger left- or right-sided brain network. It seems to be determined more connection by connection, " said Jeff Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130814190513.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhXP3rAfUnM

A book published which found that Obama's unique brand of leadership is the result of his extraordinary ability to leverage full-brain potential in the ways he thinks, decides, and acts

Right Brain/Left Brain President : Barack Obama's Uncommon Leadership Ability and How We Can Each Develop It. Author: DECOSTERD, MARY LOU

Print ISBN:

9780313380723

Both parts / hemisphere of brain need to have good balance and harmony, as well as dominance. 

For industrial applications, we require both activities of brain on a collective basis. Best Practices such as follows....

Advantages of brain lateralization

The widespread lateralization of many vertebrate animals indicates an evolutionary advantage associated with the specialization of each hemisphere.  In one experiment, baby chicks were lateralized before hatching by exposing their eggs to light.

These chicks were set to a task of picking out food from a bed of pebbles. Neither the lateralized, nor the non-lateralized chicks had a problem with this task, but the lateralized chicks only used the eye on the side of which they were lateralized to pick up the pebbles. When presented with a second task of watching for a cutout of a predatory hawk, the discrepancy between lateralized and non-lateralized chicks became evident. Lateralized chicks could pick food out of the pebbles with one eye and one half of the brain. while using the other eye and other half of their brain to monitor the skies for predators.

Not only could non-lateralized chicks not complete the two tasks simultaneously, but their performance of the single task deteriorated. This suggests that the evolutionary advantage of lateralization comes from the capacity to perform separate parallel tasks in each hemisphere of the brain.

There are certainly individual differences in hemispheric specialization across people, but they are very difficult to reliably determine. Where this matters most is in medical contexts: when people are going to have brain surgery (e.g., for epilepsy or tumor resection), physicians would like to make sure that in removing certain brain tissue they are not going to disrupt critical functions like language. As I mentioned already, most of the time the left hemisphere is more important for speaking, for example, but that isn't true in absolutely everyone. In order to determine if a person's left or right hemisphere is more important for their language production, physicians use things like the WADA test, in which a barbiturate is injected into one hemisphere to temporarily shut it down, allowing the physician to see what each hemisphere can do on its own. This is obviously a very invasive test (and not perfect at that). If it were possible to instead figure out whether someone relied more on their left or right hemisphere by having them look at a spinning figure or answer a few questions, that would obviously be preferable ... but it doesn't work.

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/12/02/248089436/the-truth-about-the-left-brain-right-brain-relationship

Our brains, contrary to popular belief, are not actually divided into two spheres. But something called the Neocortex is, and it makes up two-thirds of the brain, as per an article in Psychology Today. As the most advanced part of our brain, its two sides are what determine how it is we think and whether we are more right brained or left brained, per se.

The dominance is what determines how the rest of the Neocortex is going to function. As a prime example, while the left brain is the seat of language, it does not mean that the right side of the brain is devoid of it. Damage the right side and some parts of the speech will show signs of damage as well. However, someone who is left brain dominant is likely to learn new languages far easier than someone who is right brain dominant.

https://www.celnutrition.com/blogs/optimizedblog/56285697-left-or-right-brain-dominance-and-why-it-matters