by Raven Lebeau

Created on: January 24, 2008

This may come as a shock to you, but your brain is not the same as your hands. Trust me, I got an A in anatomy. I know these things.

I can choose to use only one hand if I want to. Once, I badly injured my right arm and used only my left for weeks. In fact, if I wanted to, I could paint an entire painting with only one hand. It wouldn't be a good painting, but that has more to do with the fact that I have the artistic talent of a camel than my use of only one hand. I've seen elephants paint with their trunks, and I envy their skill. Camels only spit on the ground, which puts their artistic talent roughly on par with mine. But I digress. I could type this article with only one hand, and although it would take me so long that I would undoubtedly get bored and cut it short, it would still have been written.

In contrast, I could not perform any activity with only half of my brain. (Yes, I'm using both halves to write this, really. Why do you ask?) The brain is a complex system of interdependent parts, each performing different functions. The idea that you use your "left brain" for boring stuff and your "right brain" for cool stuff gets perpetuated ad naseum, but it is based on a fallacy and not supported by current studies.

Am I saying that neuroscientists were silly to come up with such a theory? Not at all! Scientists base their ideas on the evidence they have, and (also contrary to popular opinion) they never say their ideas are "the truth", only that they have a way of thinking that explains what they've seen. Then the media states the idea as a fact, and the teachers believe what they read, and the students believe their teachers, and before you know it, that beautiful duckling of a theory grew up to be an ugly swan misconception.

The left brain/right brain idea came from studies on people with brain injuries. These unfortunate people were kind enough to participate in studies where they performed various tasks. The researchers noticed that people with left brain injuries could do things that people with right brain injuries could not and vice versa. All this was good science, and very important work. Those researchers made a huge contribution to understanding people with brain injuries.

That has nothing to do with those of us who are fortunate enough to have all of our brains. Ok, those of "you". I'll admit I might be missing some. I'm also missing my car keys, my wallet, and my point oh there it is! Yes, the point Anyway, scientists now have techniques by

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