Right Brain, Left Brain

Word Count: 772

    The article in which I chose to examine is called Right Brain, Left Brain:
Fact and Fiction, written by Jerre Levy. In the past fifteen years or so
there has been a lot of talk of left brain and right brain people. Levy's
reason for righting this article was clearly to stop the misconceptions and
show the truth about how our brain hemispheres operate.
    Levy first explores the myth of the left brain and right brain theory.
She states that generally people see the left hemisphere of the brain
controlling logic and language and the right, creativity and intuition. In
addition people differ in their styles of thought, depending on which half
of the brain is dominant. She believes that most of what these notions
state is farce.
    Next the article explores the history of this fascination of the left and
right hemispheres of the brain. Apparently the study of this aspect of the
brain traces back to time of Hippocrates. Levy weaves in and out of the
various theories and prominent people known for contributing to the
confusion. It wasn't until 1962 when Roger W. Sperry began experimenting
on certain aspects of the brain that contribute to the truth of the left
and right brain theory. Sperry studied people who had undergone surgical
division of the corpus callosum, the bridge between the two hemispheres.
His studies showed that, "an object placed in the right hand (left
hemisphere) could be named readily, but one placed in the left hand
(nonverbal right hemisphere) could be neither named nor described.
    Next to branch off of Sperry's studies was psychologist Doreen Kimura.
Kimura developed behavioral methods which involved presenting visual
stimuli rapidly to either the left or right visual fields. Another
important method developed was "dichotic listening" which centered around
the use of sound to study the hemispheres. Through these tests and the
continual study the theory that the left brain controlled ended. Instead a
new theory was born known as the two-brain theory. This said that at
different times one of the two hemispheres would be operating. An example
of this is that the right hemisphere is in control when an artist paints
but the left hemisphere was in control when a novelist wrote a book.
    This theory failed because of one physical studies showed that people with
hemispheres surgically disconnected c

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