Brain Dominance

The human brain is a complex organ responsible for intelligence, senses, movement, and behavior (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2007). The halves of the brain—the “right brain” and the “left brain”—perform different functions and communicate information with each other through a band of nerves that connect them. In general, the left and right hemispheres of our brain process information in different ways.  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 picture.

It is common to hear about “right-brained” or “left-brained” individual. This is called “brain dominance,” meaning that an individual has a natural preference for processing information on one side of the brain. The right side is considered the intuitive or spontaneous side, while the left side is verbal and analytical. The best illustration of this is to listen to people give directions. The left brain will say something like this “From here, go straight, turn West at Island Street, and go straight three or four miles and then turn North at Kinchang Street, the hospital will be three miles from there.” On the other hand, right brain person will say something like this “Turn left (pointing left), you will see a yellow building. Then, you will pass by McDonalds and a car wash. At the next traffic light, turn right and you will see a green building with a big billboard.  The hospital is next to it.”       

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, just as being right-handed is not ‘superior’ to being left-handed. What is important is to be aware that there are different ways of thinking, and by knowing what your natural preference is, you can pay attention to your less dominant side to improve the same and work as whole brain learning. By activating the power of both hemispheres, a child will be able to retain knowledge better and become proficient in any subject. It is evident that it is important not just develop parts of the brain, but to develop the whole brain. Studies have shown that with whole brain learning, children learn faster, retain more, and the dropout rate decreases by 90%. This is because whole brain learning emphasizes active learning, in which the learners makes connections that tap both, the left and right side of the brain. As a result, this encourages more neural connection in the brain that helps the children to perform at their full potential. 

Join us for “The LEFT or RIGHT way?” talk on February 28, 2015 at 10 am and find out how to promote whole brain learning through whole body movement.

*Article courtesy of AMA Academy. Visit http://www.ama-academy.com/ for more details

AMA Academy is deeply passionate in the training of children’s whole brain learning. AMA’s holistic and interactive methodologies incorporate kinesiology and cognitive psychology techniques resulting in efficient and effective leaning, boosting children’s brain power and unleashing the miracles of the mind.