“I don’t get maths… I have a dominant right brain.”
I am sure that you have heard of this popular theory at least once in your life - and maybe you even read Brainmatter’s recent article called “Left-brained, right-brained, or all-brained?”, which explains thoroughly the origin of the myth.
To summarise briefly, this idea of dominant brain hemispheres appeared around the 1980s following the publication of the work of Dr. Roger W. Sperry, awarded a Nobel Prize in 1981. In his work, Dr. Sperry showed that some specific cognitive functions are mainly controlled by one brain hemisphere, which was considered groundbreaking at the time as it directly contradicted the classical idea of a perfectly symmetrical brain. Little by little, the theory gained popularity, became less scientific, and was simplified and popularized to the point of reaching our Pinterest mood boards and Instagram reels.
Nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear people associate the left side of the brain with logic, language, numbers, and analytical thinking and the right side with intuition, emotional intelligence, imagination, and creativity. In the same way, left-handed people are sometimes considered more academically gifted than the right-handed majority. But is it really that easy? Can the brain be divided in such a defining and drastic way?
The crafty brain
Art can be defined as a product of human creativity. It is a superior skill that can be learned through study, practice, and observation. Thus, art is ever-changing and implies evolution and improvement. Its creative process can be divided into many different steps: conception and refinement of the idea, planning, execution, quality assessment, and so on…, which are coordinated by multiple brain regions.
As an example, let’s think about making a portrait of a loved one. To create this painting, there will be activation of different brain areas such as the visual cortices to reproduce the appearance of the person, the cerebellum for motor control and imagination, the frontal cortex for decision-making and execution, and the limbic system for the regulation and processing of emotions and memory. The motor cortices will then guide the hand as it paints… These are only a few of the many brain regions needed to reach the desired product, most of them being present in both hemispheres.
According to the right-brain, left-brain theory, creativity and art are more associated with the right brain due to their strong aesthetic and emotional components. Indeed, art is admired and known for sparking emotions. One of the most famous examples would be Edward Munch’s Skrik (known in English as “the scream”). Upon looking at this painting, it is impossible to not identify and feel the emotional distress of the subject. However, as shown throughout history, art can also be used to convey political beliefs, argue and convince, which are actions more widely associated with the left brain. In the 20th century, Otto Dix, a German painter, exposed the horrors of the First World War and criticized the Nazis during the Second World War. His art was a way for him to express his traumas and convey an antiwar message.
Therefore, it is already possible to identify problems within the theory. Creativity cannot be restricted to one brain region but seems to be the team effort of a multitude of different brain structures located in both hemispheres.
Skrik by Edward Munch,1893 & Sturmtruppe geht unter Gas vor by Otto Dix, 1924
Modern Neuroscience vs right-/left- brain myth
Modern Neuroscience and the development of real-time neuroimaging have led researchers to investigate the creative process in healthy and diseased people and provided answers to the burning question: “Left-brained, right-brained, or all-brained?”.
Specifically, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has constituted an enormous advancement in the field and allowed for the functional study of the brain at any given time and during specific tasks performed by the patients. Active brain areas involved in the creative process were finally identified. While it is true that the left and right hemispheres can differentially activate depending on the tasks, the right hemisphere being more associated with visualisation and conceptualisation, artists showed a less marked hemispheric dominance. The main hypothesis to explain this difference is linked to learning and brain plasticity. Indeed, learning enables the reshaping of synaptic connections between different brain structures, which makes the creative process more balanced between hemispheres. In music, the same conclusion has been reached. The right side of the brain is linked to perceiving pitch, harmony and rhythms and the left side to processing rapid changes in frequency and intensity of tunes, which makes both sides important and complementary.
Clinical cases have also contributed to debunking the myth. Stroke patients have been shown to often have very localised injuries either located in the right or left hemispheres. These injuries are often associated with specific behavioural impairments.
In the context of art, in most cases, stroke patients will develop different and compensatory painting styles. This results in the creation of wider scenery landscapes and larger figural compositions. For instance, the German painter Anton Räderscheidt changed his painting style after a right hemisphere stroke. His work gave rise to more distorted representations of figures and a more common use of intense and bright colours. Federico Fellini, an Italian movie director, painter and cartoonist of the 20th century, suffered from a stroke of the right hemisphere, which led to a neglect of the left side of the drawing surface, which was widely compensated after 2 months. In the same way, left hemisphere strokes are also accompanied by different artistic patterns.
The creative process can’t therefore be attributed to only one hemisphere. Even after right or left-hemispheric damages, the creative process remains, even though slightly changed.
Plastic arts
The final blow to the myth is related, as mentioned before, to learning and brain plasticity. Indeed, it is well known now that the brain is a plastic organ, which changes and evolves over the course of our lifetimes. I remember very clearly being terrible in art class when I was younger and only getting passing grades, but thinking back on that, there was just a gap between my imagination and executive skills. My creativity worked in a different way and through training and perseverance, I finally understood that everyone is creative in their very own way. There is no such thing as an uncreative person.
Learning and experience create and fortify synaptic connections, which makes creativity an ever-changing and evolving brain function. In this way, through repetition, a pianist increases the size of the cortical motor area associated with the fingers, which makes certain difficult movements easier and improves their music skills.
It is possible to train your brain to become better at specific things, even art. Hence, like the famous chef Gusteau has said about cooking (yes, this is a Ratatouille quote): “Anyone can art”. Do not let myths and preconceived ideas put you in a case and be your most creative self.
Author: Jennifer Morael
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