More Thinking to the Right
Once upon a time, there was a left-brain and a right brain. These two brains came together and formed the mind of a human. And once upon a time, the debate about left-brain and right brain raged a bit on this blog. But as the debate waned, the fires turning to glowing coals that began to cool, here I go again fanning the flames.Though some believe that to say left-brain and right brain is an over-simplification, I believe it is terminology that helps us understand the complex science of the mind. For those of you about to become ignited in intellectual rage, I apologize, but I cannot let it go. Granted, I have tried, but I am still, slowly plodding through the exercises of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and the idea of left and right continually speak to me from all directions.
If you have been reading The Unwinding Path, you may have noticed a video on there by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist with a Harvard background. The lecture is about a stroke she had and the awareness that happened for her during that time. In it, she mentions the dynamics between the left and right brain hemisphere.
Then this morning, the good, old New York Times checked in with a story about another scientist, Anne Adams, who suffered a from a disease called frontotemporal dementia. This disease seems to affect people differently, but in the case of this scientist, it substantial increased her creativity.
“By then, the circuits in Dr. Adams’s brain had reorganized. Her left frontal language areas showed atrophy. Meanwhile, areas in the back of her brain on the right side, devoted to visual and spatial processing, appeared to have thickened.
When artists suffer damage to the right posterior brain, they lose the ability to be creative, Dr. Miller said. Dr. Adams’s story is the opposite. Her case and others suggest that artists in general exhibit more right posterior brain dominance. In a healthy brain, these areas help integrate multisensory perception. Colors, sounds, touch and space are intertwined in novel ways. But these posterior regions are usually inhibited by the dominant frontal cortex, he said. When they are released, creativity emerges.”
Anyway, for those interested in the consciousness related to the interaction of brain hemispheres, the article is really fascinating. Just thought you needed to know.
Also, the artwork at the top of this page, is the by Anne Adams. If you click on it, it will take you other works of art she created.
Source: The New York Times
