The human brain has two hemispheres — the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere — that are connected by the corpus callosum, which is made up of 200 to 250 million nerve fibers, according to the University of Washington. Each hemisphere of the brain has functions in which it is dominant.
For example, the right hemisphere in the brain has dominance in spatial abilities, while the left hemisphere in the brain has dominance in logical abilities. Other right hemisphere dominant functions include music, facial recognition and visual imagery. Math and language are additional functions that the left hemisphere is dominant in.
Individuals have a hemispherical dominance, which impacts their learning style. Wright State University stated “in the development of the human brain, infants began with right brain dominance. This idea arose when researchers found that there is increased blood flow in the right brain during the first three years of life. Following three years, at some point in the fourth year, the left half of the brain receives more blood and becomes dominant.”
While many people are left-hemisphere dominant, there are individuals who are right-hemisphere dominant. Diane Connell, Ph.D., author of “Left Brain/Right Brain: Pathways to Reach Every Learner,” noted that some individuals are middle-brain dominant, which makes them more flexible than individuals who are left or right hemisphere dominant, but middle-brain dominant individuals also switch between the two hemispheres when they make decisions.
Knowing if you are right, left or middle-brain dominant can help you adjust your learning style. For example, Connell pointed out that a student with a left-hemisphere dominance may prefer to work in a quiet room on her own, while a student with a right-hemisphere dominance may prefer group activities and art projects.
New research conducted at Washington University at St. Louis suggests that brain scans may help detect how an individual will learn information. The study included 14 participants — an equal number of men and woman — who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while performing a task.
The researchers had the participants do a computer game, in which they learned to note whether there was a titled letter “T” located in the lower left side of the screen; at the same time, the participants were distracted by other “T”s on the screen.
The results of the study showed that individuals who had a strongly connected visual system would learn the task more quickly and did better on the game. HealthDay reported that the researchers feel the research is important as it helps us understands how the brain learns, while others find the results of this study does not have practical implications at the moment.
References
University of Washington. Cerebral Hemispheres Web. 15 March 2012
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/split.html
Connell, D. “Left Brain/Right Brain: Pathways to Reach Every Learner.” Web. 15 March 2012
http://cte.dce.harvard.edu/~mdumais/BrainBasedLearningWebsite/Connell_NeuroStrength_Document.doc.pdf
Wright State University. The Left and Right Brains. Web. 15 March 2012
http://www.wright.edu/academics/honors/institute/brain/leftright.html
HealthDay. Brain Scans May Predict How People Learn . Web. 15 March 2012
http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=661531
Reviewed March 16, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith