What are the left and right hemisphere our brain.

The human brain remains the most understudied organ. Despite the fact that research in this area has been going on for more than a hundred years, the mystery of the functioning of the brain is a mystery. The most complex biological mechanism that nature has ever created is human brain. This piece of gray matter remains a huge blank spot on the map of human knowledge.

Most of the mass of the brain, namely 70%, falls on the large hemispheres. The corpus callosum, which connects the left and right hemispheres, consists of neurons that provide information exchange between the hemispheres.

The two hemispheres of our brain share certain functions. The left hemisphere is responsible for logical and abstract thinking, the right for motor skills. The two hemispheres can complement each other. In case of damage to one of the hemispheres, its functions are transferred to the other half.

The brain is a complex and interconnected system, the largest and functionally important part of the central nervous system. Its functions include processing sensory information from the senses, planning, decision making, coordination, movement control, positive and negative emotions, attention, and memory. supreme function performed by the brain - thinking.

There are schools that favor one hemisphere over the other. So schools that develop left hemisphere focus on logical thinking, analysis and accuracy. Whereas the right brain school focuses on aesthetics, feelings and creativity.

The right hemisphere mainly "serves" the left side of the body: it receives most information from the left eye, ear, left hand, foot, etc. and transmits commands, respectively, to the left arm, leg.

The left hemisphere serves the right side.

Usually, one of the hemispheres in a person is dominant, which is reflected in the individual properties of the personality. For example, left-brained people are more drawn to science. Right hemispheric people are more inclined to engage in art or areas of activity that require individual imaginative solutions. The vast majority of great creators - composers, writers, poets, musicians, artists, etc. - "right hemisphere" people. But there are individuals who work with both hemispheres.

Areas of specialization of the left and right hemispheres of the brain

Left hemisphere

The main area of ​​specialization of the left hemisphere is logical thinking, and until recently, physicians considered this hemisphere to be dominant. However, in fact, it dominates only when performing the following functions.

The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for language abilities. It controls speech, reading and writing abilities, remembers facts, names, dates and their spelling.

Analytical thinking:
The left hemisphere is responsible for logic and analysis. It analyzes all the facts. Numbers and mathematical symbols are also recognized by the left hemisphere.

Literal understanding of words:
The left hemisphere can only understand the literal meaning of words.

Sequential Information Processing:

Information is processed by the left hemisphere sequentially in stages.

Mathematical Ability: Numbers and symbols are also recognized by the left hemisphere. Logical analytical approaches, which are necessary for solving mathematical problems, are also a product of the work of the left hemisphere.

Control of the movements of the right half of the body. When you lift right hand, which means that the command to raise it came from the left hemisphere.

Right hemisphere

The main area of ​​specialization of the right hemisphere is intuition. As a rule, it is not considered dominant. It is responsible for the following functions.

Processing non-verbal information:
The right hemisphere specializes in processing information, which is expressed not in words, but in symbols and images.

Spatial orientation: The right hemisphere is responsible for the perception of location and spatial orientation in general. It is thanks to the right hemisphere that you can navigate the terrain and make mosaic puzzle pictures.

Musicality: Musical ability, as well as the ability to perceive music, depend on the right hemisphere, although, however, for musical education responds to the left hemisphere.

Metaphors: With the help of the right hemisphere, we understand metaphors and the results of the work of another's imagination. Thanks to him, we can understand not only the literal meaning of what we hear or read. For example, if someone says: "He hangs on my tail," then just the right hemisphere will understand what exactly this person wanted to say.

Imagination: The right hemisphere gives us the ability to dream and fantasize. With the help of the right hemisphere, we can compose various stories. By the way, the question "What if ..." also asks the right hemisphere.

Artistic ability : The right hemisphere is responsible for the ability to fine arts.

Emotions: Although emotions are not a product of the functioning of the right hemisphere, it is associated with them more closely than the left.

Sex: The right hemisphere is responsible for sex, unless, of course, you are too concerned with the very technique of this process.

Mystic: The right hemisphere is responsible for mysticism and religiosity.

Dreams: The right hemisphere is also responsible for dreams.

Parallel information processing:

The right hemisphere can process a lot of different information at the same time. It is able to consider the problem as a whole without applying analysis. The right hemisphere also recognizes faces, and thanks to it we can perceive a set of features as a whole.

Controls the movements of the left side of the body: When you pick up left hand, which means that the command to lift it came from the right hemisphere.

How can you check which of the hemispheres you have more developed?

Squeeze your palms in front of you, now interlace your fingers and notice thumb which hand is on top.
- clap your hands, note which hand is on top.
- cross your arms over your chest, mark which forearm is on top.
- Determine the leading eye.

How can you develop the abilities of the hemispheres.

There are several simple ways hemispheric development. The simplest of them is to increase the volume of work on which the hemisphere is oriented. For example, to develop logic, you need to solve mathematical problems, guess crossword puzzles, and to develop your imagination, visit an art gallery, etc.

The next way is to maximize the use of the side of the body controlled by the hemisphere - for the development of the right hemisphere, it is necessary to work on the left side of the body, and to work out the left hemispheres - on the right. For example, you can draw, jump on one leg, juggle with one hand.

An exercise will help develop the hemisphere, on the awareness of the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

1. Preparation for the exercise.

Sit up straight, close your eyes. Breathing should be calm and even.

Visualize your brain as having two hemispheres and divided into two halves by the corpus callosum. (See picture above) Concentrate on your brain.

We try (in our imagination) to establish a connection with our brain, alternately looking with the left eye into the left hemisphere of the brain, and with the right eye into the right hemisphere. Then, with both eyes, we look inward, at the middle of the brain with the corpus callosum.

2. Performing the exercise.

Slowly inhale, fill with air and hold your breath for a short time. During exhalation, we direct the flow of our consciousness, like a searchlight, to the left hemisphere and "look" at this part of the brain. Then we inhale again, hold our breath and, as we exhale, direct the spotlight to the right hemisphere of the brain.

Imagine: on the left - clear logical thinking; on the right - dream, intuition, inspiration.

Left: inhalation, pause, exhalation is associated with the projection of the number.
Right: inhalation, pause, exhalation is associated with the projection of the letter.
Those. left: number "1" number "2" number "3", etc.
Right: letter "A", letter "B", letter "C", etc.

We continue this combination of numbers and letters until it causes pleasant sensations. Letters and numbers can be swapped, or replaced with something else - for example, summer - winter, white - black.

"Ear-nose".

With the left hand we take the tip of the nose, and with the right hand we take the opposite ear, i.e. left. Release your ear and nose at the same time, clap your hands and change the position of your hands so that the right hand is already holding the tip of the nose, and the left hand is holding the opposite, i.e. right ear.

"Ring".

Alternately and very quickly we sort through the fingers, connecting the index, middle, ring, little fingers into a ring with the thumb. First, you can use each hand separately, then simultaneously with both hands.

"Mirror drawing".

Put on the table Blank sheet paper, take a pencil. Draw simultaneously with both hands mirror-symmetrical drawings, letters. When doing this exercise, you should feel the relaxation of the eyes and hands, because the simultaneous work of both hemispheres improves the efficiency of the whole brain.

Brain training with images

The left hemisphere of the brain deals with logical thinking, while the right hemisphere deals with visual thinking and feelings.
Part 1:

Sadiya immerse yourself in a state of inner peace, transparency, a state when nothing bothers you.

Imagine (imagine) in turn:

In the left hemisphere of the brain

Medieval religious procession of a group of monks

Blooming trees

snow-covered peak

Sunrise

hot summer day

Red color

theater stage

Slowly flowing river

Sensation when touching soft silk

Sandpaper feeling

Feeling like fingers are sliding on a piece of ice

The sound of a big ball hitting

The sound of a working blacksmith

Sound - cat meows

Lemon flavor

In the right hemisphere

Whirlwind on the coast

galaxy

snow-covered peak

autumn day

thick fog

sandy desert

Touching a piece of corrugated steel

Smooth, cool glass feel

The hand is in warm water

car engine noise

Bell sound

Sound - barking dog

The taste of a chocolate bar

Take a few deep breaths. Get up slowly. Walk around the room a little, suggesting that you are becoming more cheerful, your consciousness is more active. And do part 2 right away.

Part 2:

Look up with your left eye, as if you were examining the left hemisphere of the brain.

Look up with your right eye, as if you were examining the right hemisphere of the brain.

Try to rotate your eyes vertically. As if they rotate exactly in the middle of the head.

Circle your eyes 2 circles, on the left side of your head.

Circle your eyes 2 circles, on the right.

Circle with your eyes many circles included in each other. Circles tilted under different angles. Circles fill the whole head.

Get some rest, do nothing.

Circle the circle with your eyes: it is located horizontally, at the height of the eyes. The next circle is a little smaller. So trace many circles until they turn into a point.

Fix your eyes on this point. And keep them there as long as possible. But don't tense up or hold your breath.

When the eyes move from this point, re-trace many circles with them, which will converge to a point.

Take a few deep breaths. Get up slowly. Walk around the room a little, suggesting that you are becoming more cheerful, your consciousness is becoming more active.

And do part 3 right away.

Part 3:

Imagine the right hemisphere of your brain.

Focus on the right hemisphere

On it - as a supersensitive organ,

On the convolutions and irregularities on the surface,

On the nerve that connects the 2 hemispheres,

On millions of brain cells.

Try to feel the 2 hemispheres of the brain.

Think of electrical and chemical processes going on in the brain.

Name the colors, not what is written.

The right hemisphere of the brain - recognizes colors, the left - reads. In this exercise, the hemispheres are balanced and their interaction is trained. For safety (from glitches in users) - the test begins and ends with the "correct" word-color combinations.

Good day, dear reader! Today we will discuss unique creation nature - the human brain, or rather its right hemisphere, and the exercises that you will find in this article will help develop and activate its functions. Now I will explain why I wanted to focus on this topic. First, it is responsible for Creative skills, and its development will help unlock the potential inherent in us. Secondly, for a long time the system of education and upbringing is aimed only at the left hemisphere, which has led to an imbalance in our thinking. Therefore, it is necessary to harmonize the work of the whole brain.

If you are an analyst and logician pure water(this means that you have a leading left hemisphere) and feel that you lack creativity and creativity, do not rush to get upset. There are methods and exercises that will help turn on the sleeping right hemisphere. I will describe these methods in detail at the end of the article, but for now we will consider the role that the right hemisphere performs.

Right Hemisphere Functions

1. Intuition
2. Imagination
3. Orientation in space
4. Processing non-verbal information
5. Holistic perception
6. Understanding metaphors and humor
7. Musicality
8. Drawing
9. Emotions
10. dreams

Thanks to the right hemisphere, we can holistically perceive people's faces, emotions, and distinguish between voice intonations. Metaphors and anecdotes are not perceived literally, but their hidden meaning becomes clear, associations and imagination are used. In addition, the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body.

Agree, these are important functions that are developed to a greater or lesser extent in all people. Now imagine what opportunities can open up if you make your brain work even more productively. Intuition will become sharper, empathy and sensitivity will develop, hidden abilities and talents.

Who has right sided thinking

Usually, the right hemisphere works better in women than in men. This is one of the reasons why misunderstandings so often arise between the weaker and the stronger sex. Thanks to such thinking, in women such properties as intuition, imagination, daydreaming prevail, and in men - logic, analyticity.

It used to be that right-handers were more left-handed, while left-handers were more right-handed. Now experts in neuropsychology come to the conclusion that this is not entirely true. The studies were carried out using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). When the right-hander wrote, the activity of waves from the left hemisphere increased, when the left-hander wrote, on the contrary. This test only proved once again that each side of the brain is responsible for the opposite side of the body.

Many famous artists, sculptors, composers more active Right side brain, but the left hemisphere works no lower than average. Therefore, it is necessary to improve your brain in order to achieve balance in its work.

How to activate the right hemisphere

In order to improve brain activity, training is necessary. For the left hemisphere, the solution will help math problems, solving crossword puzzles, and for the right - doing creativity. Here it is logical to be indignant: “How can we be creative if our right hemisphere does not work ?!”. I will dispel your fears, you can start with small steps available to everyone.

Listen to music. Of course, we are not talking about any kind of music here. Modern musical culture(pop, rock, hip-hop) can only litter the brain. It is better to add a few songs of meditation music to your playlist, or as advised modern psychologists something from the classics (Tchaikovsky, Bach, Mozart, Wagner and others). Close your eyes and visualize the images and pictures associated with the melody.

Behold. The most successful choice for contemplation is a mandala. This is a schematic pattern that symbolizes the model of the universe. Choose the image of the mandala to your taste, relax and look at the center for a few minutes. After a while, you may notice a kaleidoscope effect, don't be alarmed, this is how it should be. Buddhist monks use the mandala in spiritual practices. For several days they lay it out from colored grains, and after meditation they erase the beautiful fruit of their long labor.

Draw. Even if you do not have artistic ability, you can draw pictures not for exhibition or sale, but in order to activate the right hemisphere. For example, draw a mandala or any other pattern that does not require technical skills. It is best to use paints or colored crayons.

Meditate. Meditation techniques are limitless. It is not at all necessary to look for one that is aimed at developing right-handed thinking. Any meditation improves the activity of the entire brain. Read Meditation for Beginners at Home to learn more about meditation. The most important thing is to learn to observe and direct your thoughts in the right direction, at least a short time. Meditating people have good intuition, imagination, natural talents are revealed, these are signs of right-sided thinking.

Development exercises

Arabic letter. As you probably know Arabic written and read from right to left. This style of writing develops right-handed thinking. I suggest that you try this writing. You don't need to learn Arabic for this. Just write from right to left on your mother tongue, but the main thing is that it does not become a habit with you!

Mirror painting. Prepare a sheet of paper and two pencils, take one in your left hand, the other in your right. Start drawing at the same time with both hands the same, unpretentious geometric figures. This exercise helps to balance the work of the two hemispheres.

Drawing in the air. This method also aims to harmonize the work of the two sides of the brain, only it is a little more complicated than the previous one. Draw a triangle in the air with one hand and a circle with the other. When you start to succeed, you can change the shapes.

Stroking and patting. Probably everyone in childhood tried this technique. With one hand, a circular motion is made on the stomach, and with the other, a light pat on the head, then you need to change hands. It would seem, what is so difficult? But people with an imbalance in the work of the two hemispheres this exercise is not easy.

Here are, in fact, such simple exercises that will help you unlock the potential hidden in you. If you liked the article, please share it with your friends by clicking one of the buttons social networks. And also I will be very glad to your comments and additions.

Sincerely, Ruslan Tsvirkun

The brain is a complex and interconnected system, the largest and functionally
important part of the CNS. Its functions include the processing of sensory information received
from the senses, planning, decision making, coordination, management
movements, positive and negative emotions, attention, memory. Higher
the function performed by the brain is thinking.

You can easily test which of the hemispheres of your brain is active in a given
moment.Look at this picture.

If the girl in the picture rotates clockwise, then in this moment at
you are more active in the left hemisphere of the brain (logic, analysis). If she
turns counterclockwise, then you have an active right hemisphere
(emotions and intuition).

In which direction is your girl spinning? It turns out that with some effort
thoughts, you can make the girl rotate in any direction. To start,
try to look at the picture with a defocused eye.

If you look at the picture at the same time as your partner, friend,
girlfriend, acquaintances, it often happens that you simultaneously observe how
the girl rotates in two opposite directions - one sees the rotation along
clockwise and the other against. It's okay, it's just that at the moment you
different hemispheres of the brain are active.

Schematically, this can be represented as follows :

After seeing these pictures special interest represents an image with
double rotation.

How else can you check which of the hemispheres you have more developed?

Squeeze your palms in front of you, now interlace your fingers and notice
the thumb of which hand is on top.

- clap your hands, mark what
hand on top.

- cross your arms over your chest
which forearm is on top.

- determine the leading eye.

How can you develop the abilities of the hemispheres.

The left hemisphere thinks logically. Right helps
to create something new, to generate ideas, as it is now fashionable to say. However, you can
be a mathematician with a well-developed left hemisphere and nothing new
invent. And you can be a creator and pour ideas left and right and none of them
do not implement because of the inconsistency and illogicality of their actions. Such
people meet too. And they lack only one thing: work on
improving your brain, bringing it into a harmonious state.

Meanwhile, psychophysiologists have long developed a system of exercises for
this. Well in this regard, the musician ntam, for example, pianists. them from early
childhood has already been made harmonious. After all, the most important tool for development
the brain is the hands. Acting with two hands, a person develops both hemispheres.

So, let's move on to the exercises. Many of them are well known to us since childhood.

1. "Ear-nose". With the left hand we take the tip of the nose, and with the right - for
opposite ear, i.e. left. Release your ear and nose at the same time, slap
hands, change the position of the hands "exactly the opposite." I
I tried it, it was better when I was a kid.

2. "Mirror drawing". Put a blank sheet of paper on the table
take a pencil. Draw with both hands at the same time
mirror-symmetric drawings, letters. When doing this exercise, you
should feel the relaxation of the eyes and hands, because at the same time
the work of both hemispheres improves the efficiency of the entire brain.

3. "Ring". Alternately and very quickly we sort through the fingers,
connecting the index, middle, ring, little fingers into a ring with the thumb.
First, you can use each hand separately, then simultaneously with both hands.

Now let's look at physical education lessons. No wonder we were forced to do exercises, in
which had to be reached with the left hand right leg and vice versa. They are
also develop our hemispheres, and help them work in harmony.

In addition, the cerebellum is also responsible for regulation balance and muscle tone while simultaneously working with muscle memory.

Also interesting is the ability of the cerebellum to adapt to any changes in the perception of information, for the maximum short term. It is assumed that even with impaired vision (an experiment with an invertoscope), a person adapts to a new state in just a few days and can again coordinate the position of the body, relying on the cerebellum.

frontal lobes

frontal lobes is a kind of dashboard human body. She supports him in an upright position, making it possible to move freely.

Moreover, precisely due to frontal lobes curiosity, initiative, activity and independence of a person at the time of making any decisions are “calculated”.

Also, one of the main functions of this department is critical self-assessment. Thus, this makes the frontal lobes a kind of conscience, at least in relation to social markers of behavior. That is, any social deviations that are unacceptable in society do not pass the control of the frontal lobe, and, accordingly, are not performed.

Any injury in this part of the brain is fraught with:

• behavioral disorders;
• mood swings;
• general inadequacy;
• senselessness of actions.

Another function of the frontal lobes is arbitrary decisions and their planning. Also, the development of various skills and abilities depends precisely on the activity of this department. The dominant share of this department is responsible for the development of speech, and its further control. Equally important is the ability to think abstractly.

Pituitary

Pituitary often referred to as a brain appendage. Its functions are reduced to the production of hormones responsible for puberty, development and functioning in general.

In fact, the pituitary gland is something like a chemical laboratory, which decides what exactly you will become in the process of growing up of the body.

Coordination

Coordination, as a skill to navigate in space and not to touch objects with different parts of the body in a random order, is controlled by the cerebellum.

In addition, the cerebellum controls such functions of the brain as kinetic awareness- in general, it highest level coordination, which allows you to navigate in the surrounding space, noting the distance to objects and calculating the ability to move in free zones.

Speech

Such an important function as speech is managed by several departments at once:

• Dominant part of the frontal lobe(above), which is responsible for the control of oral speech.
• temporal lobes responsible for speech recognition.

Basically, we can say that it is responsible for speech left hemisphere brain, if division is not taken into account telencephalon into different divisions and departments.

Emotions

Emotional regulation- This is the area controlled by the hypothalamus, along with a number of other important functions.

Strictly speaking, emotions are not created in the hypothalamus, but it is there that the influence on endocrine system person. Already after a certain set of hormones has been produced, a person feels something, however, the gap between the orders of the hypothalamus and the production of hormones can be completely insignificant.

prefrontal cortex

Functions prefrontal cortex lie in the field of mental and motor activity of the body, which correlates with future goals and plans.

In addition, the prefrontal cortex plays a significant role in creating complex thought patterns,
plans and algorithms of action.

home peculiarity the fact that this part of the brain does not "see" the difference between the regulation of the internal processes of the body and following the social framework of external behavior.

When you are faced with a difficult choice, which appeared mainly due to your own conflicting thoughts - give thanks for it. prefrontal cortex brain. It is there that differentiation and/or integration of various concepts and objects takes place.

Also in this department is predicted the result of your actions, and an adjustment is made in comparison with the result that you want to get.

Thus, we are talking about volitional control, concentration on the subject of work and emotional regulation. That is, if you are constantly distracted during work, you cannot concentrate, then the conclusion drawn prefrontal cortex, was disappointing and you won't be able to achieve desired result exactly this way.

The last proven function of the prefrontal cortex to date is one of the substrates short term memory.

Memory

Memory- this is a very broad concept that includes descriptions of higher mental functions that allow you to reproduce previously acquired knowledge, skills and abilities at the right time. All higher animals possess it, however, it is naturally most developed in humans.

It is almost impossible to determine exactly which part of the brain is responsible for memory (long-term or short-term). Physiological studies show that the areas responsible for storing memories are distributed over the entire surface of the cortex. hemispheres brain.

Mechanism The action of memory is as follows - in the brain, a certain combination of neurons is excited in a strict sequence. These sequences and combinations are called neural networks. Previously, the more common theory was that individual neurons were responsible for memories.

Brain diseases

The brain is the same organ as all the others in the human body, which means it is also susceptible to various diseases. The list of such diseases is quite extensive.

It will be easier to consider it if we divide them into several groups:

1. Viral diseases. The most common of these are viral encephalitis (weakness in the muscles, severe drowsiness, coma, confusion and difficulty thinking in general), encephalomyelitis (fever, vomiting, impaired coordination and motor skills of the limbs, dizziness, loss of consciousness), meningitis (high temperature, general weakness, vomiting), etc.
2. Tumor diseases. Their number is also quite large, although not all of them are malignant. Any tumor appears as the final stage of failure in the production of cells. Instead of ordinary death and subsequent replacement, the cell begins to multiply, filling all the space free from healthy tissues. Symptoms of tumors are headaches and convulsions. Also, their presence is easy to determine by hallucinations from various receptors, confusion and problems with speech.
3. Neurodegenerative diseases. By common definition it is also a breach in life cycle cells in different parts brain. Thus, Alzheimer's disease is described as impaired conduction nerve cells, which leads to memory loss. Huntington's disease, in turn, is the result of atrophy of the cerebral cortex. There are other options. The general symptoms are as follows - problems with memory, thinking, gait and motor skills, the presence of convulsions, tremors, spasms or pain. Also read our article about.
4. Vascular diseases are also quite different, although, in fact, they are reduced to violations in the structure of blood vessels. So, an aneurysm is nothing more than a protrusion of the wall of a certain vessel - which does not make it less dangerous. Atherosclerosis is a narrowing of blood vessels in the brain, but vascular dementia is characterized by their complete destruction.