full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Elizabeth Waters: The left brain vs. right brain myth
Unscramble the Blue Letters
Behold the human brain, it's lumpy landscape vibisly split into a left and right side. This structure has iisrepnd one of the most pervasive ideas about the brain, that the left side controls logic and the right, creativity. And yet, this is a myth uopteprnsud by sftciiinec evidence. So how did this mdniisleag idea come about, and what does it get wrong? It's true that the brain has a right and a left side. This is most apparent with the outer layer, or the cortex. irenantl regions, like the striatum, hypothalamus, thalamus, and brain stem appear to be made from continuous tissue, but in fact, they're also ogaziernd with left and right sides. The left and the right sides of the brain do control different body functions, such as movement and sight. The brain's right side controls the motion of the left arm and leg and vice vrsea. The visual system is even more complex. Each eye has a left and right vsauil field. Both left visual fields are sent to the right side of the brain, and both right fields are sent to the left side. So the biarn uses both sides to make a complete igame of the wrold. siincsetts don't know for sure why we have that crossing over. One theory is it beagn soon after animals developed more complex noreuvs systems because it gave the survival advantage of quicker relxeefs. If an animal sees a predator coimng from its left side, it's best off escaping to the right. So we can say that vision and memneovt control are two systems that rely on this left-right sutrctrue, but pobemlrs arise when we over-extend that idea to logic and creativity. This misconception began in the mid-1800s when two neurologists, Broca and Wernicke, examined patients who had problems communicating due to injuries. The researchers found daagme to the patients' left temporal lobes, so they suggested that language is crnoletold by the left side of the brain. That captured the popular imagination. Author rreobt Louis Stevenson then introduced the idea of a logical left hemisphere cipotemng with an emotional right hemisphere represented by his characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But this idea didn't hold up when doctors and scientists examined peattins who were missing a hemisphere or had their two hemispheres separated. These patients showed a complete range of behaviors, both logical and creative. Later research showed that one side of the brain is more active than the other for some fnctnuios. Language is more localized to the left and attention to the right. So one side of the brain may do more work, but this verais by ssytem rather than by person. There isn't any evidence to suggest that individuals have dominant sides of the brain, or to support the idea of a left-right split between logic and creativity. Some pepole may be particularly logical or creative, but that has nothing to do with the sides of their brains. And even the idea of logic and creativity being at odds with each other doesn't hold up well. Solving complex math problems requires inspired creativity and many vnribat works of art have intricate lciaogl frameworks. Almost every feat of creativity and logic cirears the mark of the whole brain functioning as one.
Open Cloze
Behold the human brain, it's lumpy landscape _______ split into a left and right side. This structure has ________ one of the most pervasive ideas about the brain, that the left side controls logic and the right, creativity. And yet, this is a myth ___________ by __________ evidence. So how did this __________ idea come about, and what does it get wrong? It's true that the brain has a right and a left side. This is most apparent with the outer layer, or the cortex. ________ regions, like the striatum, hypothalamus, thalamus, and brain stem appear to be made from continuous tissue, but in fact, they're also _________ with left and right sides. The left and the right sides of the brain do control different body functions, such as movement and sight. The brain's right side controls the motion of the left arm and leg and vice _____. The visual system is even more complex. Each eye has a left and right ______ field. Both left visual fields are sent to the right side of the brain, and both right fields are sent to the left side. So the _____ uses both sides to make a complete _____ of the _____. __________ don't know for sure why we have that crossing over. One theory is it _____ soon after animals developed more complex _______ systems because it gave the survival advantage of quicker ________. If an animal sees a predator ______ from its left side, it's best off escaping to the right. So we can say that vision and ________ control are two systems that rely on this left-right _________, but ________ arise when we over-extend that idea to logic and creativity. This misconception began in the mid-1800s when two neurologists, Broca and Wernicke, examined patients who had problems communicating due to injuries. The researchers found ______ to the patients' left temporal lobes, so they suggested that language is __________ by the left side of the brain. That captured the popular imagination. Author ______ Louis Stevenson then introduced the idea of a logical left hemisphere _________ with an emotional right hemisphere represented by his characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But this idea didn't hold up when doctors and scientists examined ________ who were missing a hemisphere or had their two hemispheres separated. These patients showed a complete range of behaviors, both logical and creative. Later research showed that one side of the brain is more active than the other for some _________. Language is more localized to the left and attention to the right. So one side of the brain may do more work, but this ______ by ______ rather than by person. There isn't any evidence to suggest that individuals have dominant sides of the brain, or to support the idea of a left-right split between logic and creativity. Some ______ may be particularly logical or creative, but that has nothing to do with the sides of their brains. And even the idea of logic and creativity being at odds with each other doesn't hold up well. Solving complex math problems requires inspired creativity and many _______ works of art have intricate _______ frameworks. Almost every feat of creativity and logic _______ the mark of the whole brain functioning as one.
Solution
- misleading
- system
- brain
- people
- reflexes
- movement
- patients
- logical
- varies
- problems
- internal
- scientific
- visibly
- versa
- scientists
- functions
- nervous
- began
- unsupported
- visual
- image
- robert
- controlled
- vibrant
- inspired
- organized
- world
- damage
- carries
- competing
- structure
- coming
Original Text
Behold the human brain, it's lumpy landscape visibly split into a left and right side. This structure has inspired one of the most pervasive ideas about the brain, that the left side controls logic and the right, creativity. And yet, this is a myth unsupported by scientific evidence. So how did this misleading idea come about, and what does it get wrong? It's true that the brain has a right and a left side. This is most apparent with the outer layer, or the cortex. Internal regions, like the striatum, hypothalamus, thalamus, and brain stem appear to be made from continuous tissue, but in fact, they're also organized with left and right sides. The left and the right sides of the brain do control different body functions, such as movement and sight. The brain's right side controls the motion of the left arm and leg and vice versa. The visual system is even more complex. Each eye has a left and right visual field. Both left visual fields are sent to the right side of the brain, and both right fields are sent to the left side. So the brain uses both sides to make a complete image of the world. Scientists don't know for sure why we have that crossing over. One theory is it began soon after animals developed more complex nervous systems because it gave the survival advantage of quicker reflexes. If an animal sees a predator coming from its left side, it's best off escaping to the right. So we can say that vision and movement control are two systems that rely on this left-right structure, but problems arise when we over-extend that idea to logic and creativity. This misconception began in the mid-1800s when two neurologists, Broca and Wernicke, examined patients who had problems communicating due to injuries. The researchers found damage to the patients' left temporal lobes, so they suggested that language is controlled by the left side of the brain. That captured the popular imagination. Author Robert Louis Stevenson then introduced the idea of a logical left hemisphere competing with an emotional right hemisphere represented by his characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But this idea didn't hold up when doctors and scientists examined patients who were missing a hemisphere or had their two hemispheres separated. These patients showed a complete range of behaviors, both logical and creative. Later research showed that one side of the brain is more active than the other for some functions. Language is more localized to the left and attention to the right. So one side of the brain may do more work, but this varies by system rather than by person. There isn't any evidence to suggest that individuals have dominant sides of the brain, or to support the idea of a left-right split between logic and creativity. Some people may be particularly logical or creative, but that has nothing to do with the sides of their brains. And even the idea of logic and creativity being at odds with each other doesn't hold up well. Solving complex math problems requires inspired creativity and many vibrant works of art have intricate logical frameworks. Almost every feat of creativity and logic carries the mark of the whole brain functioning as one.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
| collocation |
frequency |
| left side |
4 |
| side controls |
2 |
| examined patients |
2 |
Important Words
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