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Conner Irvin

Mrs. Plummer

research Paper

28 June 2015

Left and Right Brain

When most people hear that they have two different personalities in their head they

would think two things; one being no because I’m pretty sure I’m not a crazy person the second

one being that the person who told them that is a crazy person. However, the truth is that in a

sense, you do. Your brain is divided in many ways but no bigger division than by the left and

right hemisphere. There have been many studies about the left and right hemispheres of the brain

though the three that we want to discuss today are about lateralization of the brain, dual brain

theory, and how music develops or changes the brain.

Lateralization of the brain is a discussion about how the brain is divided into two

hemispheres and how one side tends to dominate.. This is how people came up with the idea that

if you are dominate left brain you are more of a logical thinker and if you are a more dominate

right brain you are more of a creative thinker. Also how your hemisphere dominance determines

if you are right or left handed. Experiments and studies on lateralization started as far back as the

1861 when physician Pierre Paul Broca studied one of his patients who he nicknamed Tan who

suffered from a speech impediment. Broca determined that the reason for Tan’s Speech

impediment was because he suffered a lesion on the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. This

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led to the conclusion that the left hemisphere deals with speech production. Broca’s studies have

been followed and built up and is even studied today.

The second study is about the dual brain theory. This theory states that the two cerebral

hemispheres of the brain may sense and react to the environment independently. The idea of

having two independently thinking brains can affect how a person learns and behaves. Some

studies or statements about the dual brain theory include one that states how every time a patient

wanted to smoke a cigarette his right hand reached for the cigarette, which deals with his left

brain, his left hand,or his right brain, would grab it and throw it away. The other about a female

who was getting dressed, every time she went to grab her favorite dress with her left hand her

right hand would put it back. A study by Dr. Fredric Schiffer was using goggles that restricted

one side of the brain specifically which let the patient experience each situation differently.

The last is how music affects the different sides of the brain. In the past years the

Stanford University School of Medicine performed an experiment in which during an fMRI they

played a symphony from an 18th century composer. During wtttrmined musicngeages the area of

the brain involved with paying attention, and making predictions. This is because during pauses

or rests of music the brain predicts what is going to happening net in the song. The effects of this

study can lead to help with memory lost and diseases like Alzheimer.

The brain is divided into two parts the left and right side of the brain though it through

studies and research that we can learn about these two regions and how they help us process

information and make decisions which will lead o furthermore discovers of the human body.

Cherry, Kendra. "Left Brain vs Right Brain Dominance." Web. 29 June 2015.

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"Left Brain – Right Brain Myth « Science-Based Medicine." Left Brain – Right Brain Myth « Science-Based Medicine. Web. 29 June 2015.

Melina, Remy. "What's the Difference Between the Right Brain and Left Brain?" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 12 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 June 2015.