The Left and Right Brain Functioning

The Left and Right Brain Functioning

 

Basically, each of the hemisphere of the brain functions like two different personalities with their own way of processing the information. The left brain thinks methodically and likes to organize and categorize the information from the environment. In turn, it connects the new information with the old one, making sense of our world as well.

This is totally contrasts with the right brain which "thinks" holistically in pictures. The right learns kinesthetically through the body and functions with the present. It is the right brain that is responsible in counseling for bringing in our awareness to the present. 

The Right Brain Functioning

You have probably had a "moment" in your life. You know, a moment of awareness, of being totally in the here and now. Well, you were in your right brain. Our present moments are right brain based. That is because all our sensory information comes through the right brain.

Basically, the right brain gives us the sense of being connected to one another. It is called the relational right brain for a good and solid reason.Based on a Positron Emission Tomography ( PET) scans and neuroimaging technology, we have learned that the right brain regulates or influences many aspects of our behavior. And, it is often those aspects that we are trying to change through psychotherapy. 

Those things often have to do with our relations and connections with others, for instances Self-awareness, Empathy, Identification with others, Trust, Emotion, Non conscious communication, Attachment and Recognition  of emotional faces.

One more things, the other right brain functioning includes visuo-spatial recognition (imagery), autobiographical memory, stress modulation and holistic thinking. The right side of the brain also has an integrative map of the body.

The Left Brain Functioning

The left brain "thinks" in language. It is that "calculating intelligence" that tells us not to forget to pock up milk on the way home from work.

You have probably seen a human brain, that two sided grey mass with the deep groves cut into it. The two sides or hemispheres each has separate ways of organizing our experiences of the world, simplistically speaking, the left brain deals with thinking  while the right brain processes the emotions.

 

In summary, we use the "left brain" to reference the fact that the left hemisphere is the physical location of our capacity for logical thinking, abstract analysis and verbal dexterity.

In short, the left brain specializes in processing the information in a conscious, specific and linear way, while the right brain specializes in unconscious, global and holistic processing. In turn, we could say that the left brain sees the trees, while the right brain takes in the whole forest.

"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic." Frank Herbert



By: Dr. Suzanne LaCombe & Terry McGraw, June 2006.
Updated: November 6, 2010.


Dr. LaCombe (aka "Dr. Shrinklady") has been showing people how to make deep emotional changes since 2006. She believes that the solution to our personal discontents is not found in thoughts alone but must include the balanced integration of mind, body and spirit. She created MyShrink.com as a safe harbour where you can learn how brain science can be used to enhance every aspect of your life.

References

Schore, Allan (2003). Affect Regulation and Repair of the Self. "The Right Brain, the Right Mind, and Psychoanalysis." New York: W.W. Norton & Company, pp. 205 - 249