The cerebral cortex of the brain is divided into two hemispheres. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and is responsible for language and analytical thought. The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and specializes in non-verbal, big-picture thinking. While both sides of the brain are capable of processing complex information, they do so in completely different but complementary ways.
Creativity
Right-brain dominant people tend to use intuition and creativity rather than analytical means to solve problems. After comparing the brain activity of two sets of problem solvers, John Kounios of Drexel University and Mark Jung-Beeman from Northwestern University found significantly more right-brain activity in those that came to a solution via a sudden insight, or an "aha" moment as opposed to those who methodically solved the problem.
Spatial Tasks
The ability to perform spatial tasks originates in the right hemisphere. In the 1950s and 1960s, Roger Sperry of California Institute of Technology conducted a study on patients whose corpus callosum, the bundle of axons that tether the brain hemispheres together, was severed which prohibits communication between the two sides. One study subject was unable to arrange wooden blocks in a specific design with his right hand, which is controlled by the left brain. But he could complete the task with his right brain-controlled left hand.
Musical and Emotional Expression
Emotional meaning during speech that is conveyed through vocal inflection and the ability to hear and reproduce pitch is certainly useful for musical expertise. Research conducted at the University of Texas by Elliott Ross demonstrates that the right brain controls this skill. For example, after suffering damage to the right hemisphere, one of Ross's study subjects could not vary her vocal pitch, and her speech became monotone.
Fairness
A 2006 study led by Daria Knoch of the University of Zurich found that the ability to determine fairness is linked to the right brain. In this study, researchers delivered magnetic pulses to either the right or left frontal lobes of the study subjects, temporarily disabling activity in the region. The subjects then played a game in which they accepted or refused an unfair split of an amount of money. The researchers found that those with disabled right-brain areas accepted significantly unfair offers half the time, while the left brain-disabled group and a control group only accepted unfair offers one-tenth of the time.
The Right Brain and the Conceptual Age
Business writer Daniel Pink speculates that the job market of the future belongs to holistic, creative right-brain thinkers. The Master of Fine Arts will be the new MBA, Pink says, as wealthy Americans demand more than just functionality from their purchases. They will want attractively designed products from companies that demonstrate that they care about them. And corporations are already taking notice. "I see us as being in the art business," says Robert Lutz of General Motors, and "art, entertainment and mobile sculpture . . . coincidentally, also happen to provide transportation."
References
- Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology (2nd ed.): "Right Brain Hemisphere"; The Gale Group, Inc.; 2001
- Hindustan Times: "Cradle of Creativity Identified in the Brain"
- "Whole Brain Thinking"; Jacquelyn Wonder, Priscilla Donovan; 1984
- Science News: "Music, Language May Meet in the Brain"
- Science News: "Right Brain Area Linked to Fairness"
