Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

According to the theory of lateralisation developed by Robert Sperry and Robert Ornstein, the cerebral cortex in the two hemispheres perform the same motor and sensory functions but each of the hemisphere is specialized for different tasks. As the brain develops, the left hemisphere is superior in doing tasks that involve speech, language, reading, and writing. The right hemisphere shows superiority in tasks that involves creativity, intuition, facial recognition, non-verbal imagery, musical recognition, sense of direction, play and sports, learning experience and risk-taking. Lateralisation is developed for the task that is done, that is the right hemisphere is used for a particular function. This decision is influenced by genetics, childhood learning experiences and

One Brain or Two?, Michael Gazzaniga and Roger W. Sperry explore the independent abilities of the two hemispheres in the brain, the left and right, by studying split-brain patients and their responses to certain tests. The tests are designed to examine the mental and perceptual capacities of the split-brain patients. With careful placement of objects or pictures, the first test measures the visual abilities of the patients. The second test measures the tactile cognition abilities of the patients by allowing them to feel an object behind a screen, then asking them to name the object. The third and more challenging test combines the visual test and tactile test to measure the auditory abilities of the patients. Each of these tests shows the different ways that the brain works in split-brain and normal brain humans alike.

The human brain is a wondrous invention that has many scientists and researchers very busy to this very day. There are numerous qualities about the brain humans know about, yet there are still a great number of mysteries to the brain and how it functions left to be discovered and shared. Some facts scientists do know about the brain is that it is divided into to primary sections, called hemispheres. Each person has a left and right hemisphere of the brain. Each hemisphere is in charge of specific abilities, tasks, and functions. This paper will review what each hemisphere is responsible for and describe ways that each hemisphere is predisposed to learn.

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor describes her experience of a stroke in her left hemisphere on December 10, 1996 causing her to lost the ability to move or talk, as well as her self awareness. Throughout her presentation, she mentions the basic functions of the two hemispheres of our brain: right and left hemisphere. Taylor argues both sides of the brain functions differently and process various of information. Taylor defines the right hemisphere of the human brain is about the “present moment” or “right here, right now”, it processes with pictures and learn physically based on our movements. She compares the right hemisphere to a “parallel processor”, whereas she compares the left hemisphere as a “serial processor”. Taylor defines the left hemisphere

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the correlational method as a means for examining the relationship between functions of the left and right hemispheres. I will compare the performance of people with intact brains with the performance of so-called split-brain patients. In many ways, the brains of these two groups are very similar. 1a. The brain stem is found in the deepest part of the brain. The brainstem controls the automatic survival functions of the body, such as breathing. There are no differences between the function of the normal brainstem and the brain of a split brain patient. The brainstem will still supply the automatic survival functions of the body. 1b. The hippocampus is found in the limbic system along with the amygdala, the hypothalamus. The hippocampus is in charge of allowing the body to process information into memories. Without the hippocampus, there is no way for new memories to be created. There is no anatomical difference between the hippocampus in the normal brain and a split brain. 1c. The corpus callosum is found in the center of the brain. The role it plays as a part of the brain is it connects both the left and right hemispheres of the brain, allowing them to work and interact together as a whole system. The difference between the anatomy of the corpus callosum in a split brain patient versus someone without a

In the excerpt “Right Brain Rising”, Daniel Pink tells his experience in depth detail of an intriguing brain scan beneficial both to his curious mind, and the world of science. He then goes on to inform readers of the two distinct halves resting in our skulls; following up with the past inferiority associated with the human right brain, thought to be due to years of evolution. After acknowledging the disproved theory, Pink delves into information pertaining to psychology’s six

She craved minimal stimulation as her brain on overloaded with sensory processing. In the beginning, she would have to sleep for six hours to allow herself twenty minutes of energy. As time passed, her energy level increased significantly. Furthermore, she needed a calm atmosphere that her mother was more than happy to provide for her. Taylor’s mother monitored the visitation time, the sound of the television, and picked up the ever-ringing phone. When she could not remember what something was, her mother facilitated creating the new memory. For example, Jill could not recall what “a tuna” actually was, so her mother made it for lunch to help her know. The mother was such a help, as she was integral in generating new sensory input such as color and puzzles. Since it was her brain’s left hemisphere that received the damage, reading and math were two exceptionally difficult feats. Taylor’s mother helped her along with learning these abstract concepts. After the surgery to remove the remnants of the arteriovenous malformation, she prepared herself to perform a presentation at a college. She watched the videotape of one of her past presentations repeatedly to help regain public speaking skills. Although she did not understand some of what she was saying, she taught herself the words and the pronunciations of the most difficult ones. She presented the information with success. Months after the stroke, she allowed herself to return to working at the Brain Bank. She began with online tasks, which turned into driving to the hospital a few days a week. Then she attended her 20 year high school reunion, which helped her relearn lost memories. After that, she made the decision to step down from being on the NAMI Board of Directors. She, with the help of her guitar, presented her short speech to over 2,000 members. One year after her stroke, she moved to her hometown. It was there that she was

The brain is one of the most complicated things ever researched. Typically the brain is split into two halves. The left side of a person’s brain is used for critical and analytical thinking. When the brain is faced with a serious problem the left brain

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, delivered her wonderful message by starting to narrate her experience last December 10, 1996 in Boston. She suffered from a brain disorder caused by a ruptured blood vessel in the left hemisphere of her brain. As a result, she lost the left side of her brain which took away her ability to do things. This experience allowed her to transition back in forth from her reality to her “La La Land”. During that time, she experienced something that people always wanted to experience – euphoria. She explained how peaceful it is in there and how loving the people were around her. Sometimes in between her episodes, she could compare how different the reality was from her own wonderland. She would explain how enormous

In class on 9/18, we discussed the structures of the brain and how each part works. The brain has so many parts that it is almost impossible to remember all the parts and their functions. The brain is very complex, but the most interesting thing that was talked about was the two different hemispheres. We discussed how the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and vise versa I found it very interesting that the left side of the brain controls more of our logic and grammar, and the right side of the brain controls more emotional expressions. When Dr. Yarnell discussed her story of her friend and her friend’s husband getting in a fight I think the way she told her to help resolve it was very interesting. Her response was to move into her left side

This weeks reading discussed the brain and many complicated factors that go along with it. The brain has been an important area of study for decades and there are many different perspectives when it comes to how it works. Brain imaging, like what is discussed in the reading provided by Dr. Gordon Rose entitled "Postcards From the Brain" has shown us more information about how the brain works, but it has also led to many perspectives related to how consciousness works, and hard versus easy problems in the brain. It debates whether hard problems even exist. Furthermore, the reading provided, also describes language in a baby's brain, how mimicry works, and disorders throughout human development. These sections all involve slightly different perspectives when it comes to how our mind works.

The results of this study show us the brain is not in fact symmetrical and the two hemispheres in the brain work in different ways. The left hemisphere is known to play the dominant role, which is in control of all complex behavioural and cognitive processes as for the right hemisphere it only plays a minor role. This report will further analyse how different the two hemisphers is the dominant side of the brain.

For many decades people have been considered to be either right or left side dominant in regards to brain function which came with defined roles such as “creative” or “analytical”. This thinking tends to be over-simplified as most people use their entire brains daily (Jensen, 2010). On the other hand people do use different parts of their brain for different tasks according to how they perceive those tasks.

In contrast, the left hemisphere deals with high order executive function such as cause and effect thinking, reasoning, and verbal language. Marsha Linehan’s (2014) dialectical behavioural training (DBT) states that everyone has a wise mind which is our felt sense that points us to the truth and right feelings. The goal is to use art or storytelling to engage the sensory rich memories and attune to the body’s felt sense. The therapist and client titrate the trauma symptoms and experience in a controlled and safe environment. Then, left hemisphere files away the memory once the client can create a story and make sense of the intrusive sensations, images, feelings, and thoughts from the trauma

Left-right brain dominance is about the fact that the distinct hemispheres influence thinking. The left hemisphere is associated with logical, analytical thinking and a linear approach to problem solving. The right hemisphere is associated with creative, intuitive and value-based thought process. It is important to note that everyone uses its both hemispheres, but to varying degrees. Four quadrants of the brain, related to different thinking style, have been identified: