The left brain right brain theory is credited to the 1981 Nobel prize winner, Roger Sperry on split-brain research. He noticed the two sides of our brains serve different functions.
Our Left Brain is your verbal and logical brain. It thinks sequentially and breaks it down to numbers and words. It's the analytical, objective side.
Our Right Brain is the non-verbal and intuitive part of your brain.It thinks in pictures or patterns and doesn't understand "breaking down" to numbers and words. It's the subjective and holistic side.
So, why should we care? In the book, The Age of Spiritual Machines, author Ray Kurzweil: (page 103)
"The human brain has about 1000 billion neurons. With an estimated average of one thousand connections between each neuron and it's neighbors, we have about 100 trillion connections, each capable of a simultaneous calculation. That's rather massive parallel processing, and one key to the strength of human thinking. A profound weakness, however, is the excruciatingly slow speed of neural circuitry, only 200 calculations per second. For problems that benefit from massive parallelism, such as a neural-net based pattern recognition, the human brain does a great job. For problems that require extensive sequential thinking, the human brain is only mediocre.
Our culture has a high emphasis on left-brain activities: reading, writing, math. However, from the quote above, our left brain is the "slow" side of the brain, only doing 200 calculations per second, whereas the right side can do 100 trillion calculations per second.Understanding the left brain right brain theory is about advancing ourselves in some way, tapping into our inner resources to accomplish whatever goals we have.
Exercise: Left Brain Right Brain Freeze
For most of us feel normal when we think in left brain mode (which is not the case for dyslexic people or kids). Most of our waking ours are spent in left brain mode, talking, writing, speaking, etc. So it's no wonder we have a difficult time accessing our right brain. In her phenomenal book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, has an exercise to illustrate getting from left brain to right brain mode.
For the face vase picture below, start with one side and draw the profile pattern. If you are left-handed, START at the upper right side of the drawing (and vice versa). As your pencil goes over the lines, mentally name the parts "head, nose, lip, chin, neck". Then as you go to the other side and draw, your brain will likely go into paralysis. (it was a very interesting and frustrating experience when I did this exercise).
This happened because you were using your left (verbal) brain to identify and draw the vase, which required right brain thinking. To successfully complete the drawing, you need to identify the lines as "lines", not as the 'body part' to avoid going to the left brain mode. Seriously, give it a shot!
Make a Left Brain Right Brain Switch
So, how do we work from our right brain? Barring brain injury, we all have the ability to access our right brain, and do it all the time. It's just that our ability to consciously make the "switch" has been dormant. Here's a list of ways to help make the switch from left brain mode to right brain mode:
- Play music (without words)
- Walk around the room with eyes closed
- Daydream on a time you had fun (vacation, sports, etc)
- Pick up juggling
- Put your notes/ideas in a mind map
- Doodle, play with your pen
- Use your non-dominant hand to write, brush your teeth, etc
- Journal your feelings and your random thoughts
- Learn PhotoReading, you "read" using both sides of your brain
- The absolute best way I know how to develop this is to get the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain"
The idea is to start thinking in terms of images and away from numbers and words when trying to think in right brain mode. Good artists do this better than most of us.
Left Brain Exercises
Now, how do we work on the left brain? Most of us won't have a difficult time accessing left bran mode, but here are a few exercises to that use your Left Brain:
- Play with Crosswords puzzles
- Do Math exercises
- Play Number puzzles like Sudoku
- Do Memory Retention exercises
- Play Spelling games
- Get some brain teasers
To summarize the left brain right brain theory; your left brain is the logical, sequential brain that's actually the slower part of your brain. The right side of your brain thinks in images, and sees the big picture, and is the faster side of your brain. Because of culture and influence, most of us have a strong left-brain thinking, but there are ways to consciously switch to right brain mode.
The more you are able to tap into your right brain, the more you'll discover what you're capable of, in many areas of your life: work, home, business, etc. So, see how you can make the left brain right brain theory work for you!