Right Cerebral Hemisphere: Parts, Characteristics And Functions
In popular culture, it is widely believed that the cerebral hemispheres differ in their characteristics.
The right hemisphere has traditionally been associated with the artistic while the left hemisphere is considered to be more analytical, involved in aspects such as mathematics and verbal language.
Although many atrocities have been said about what each of the hemispheres do, the truth is that both brain structures do differ in terms of their characteristics and functions.
In this article we are going to talk about the right cerebral hemisphere what are its most notable characteristics and functions, in addition to describing a syndrome related to this structure and its symptoms.
Before going into more detail about the particularities of the right hemisphere, it is first necessary to explain What is a cerebral hemisphere, and what role does it have in the nervous system? of human beings.
The word hemisphere comes from the Greek words ‘hemi’ (‘half’) and ‘sphera’ (‘sphere’) and, when we talk about the cerebral hemispheres, we refer to each of the two main portions that make up the brain.
The hemispheres are inverse of each other, but not inversely symmetrical. These structures are separated by a line called the interhemispheric fissure , and that is why we talk about left and right hemispheres. Deep in this fissure is the corpus callosum that connects both hemispheres.
How is the right cerebral hemisphere structured?
The right cerebral hemisphere constitutes the upper and right half of the brain. This structure, like its left counterpart, covers half of the five large brain lobes:
As we have already mentioned, both hemispheres are separated by the interhemispheric fissure, also called the longitudinal cerebral fissure. In the deepest part of this fissure is the corpus callosum , structure of nerve fibers which connects both hemispheres. Since both hemispheres need to constantly share information with each other, the corpus callosum is a structure that fulfills a great function.
Like other brain structures, the right hemisphere is protected by three layers:
Characteristics
Although structurally similar to the left hemisphere, the right hemisphere has different characteristics. The left hemisphere is considered the most analytical, while the right hemisphere is attributed more creative characteristics. Below we will see in more details What are the most representative characteristics of the right hemisphere of the brain? :
1. Musical
Playing an instrument, accurately identifying which note is being heard or quickly learning the rhythmicity of a melody are aspects of the right hemisphere.
2. Synthetic
That the right hemisphere has synthetic processing means allows you to postulate hypotheses and propose ideas with the intention of contrasting them, seeing if they are true or not and, if not, proposing new ones.
The generation of new thoughts does not necessarily have to be linked to the veracity of a fact. You can propose something new simply with the intention of being original.
3. Nonverbal
To say that the right hemisphere is a structure that is not involved in language is not entirely true. This human ability involves several brain areas, some of them being on the right side. However, verbal aspects such as speech and reading and writing are more typical of the left hemisphere.
In the right hemisphere there is the ability to analyze those non-verbalized aspects of language like facial gestures.
4. Holistic
The processing of the right hemisphere is Take a broad view of a problem, rather than choosing to pore over every detail that make it up.
Thus, it analyzes a specific stimulus in an integrated and global way. For this reason, the right hemisphere is the structure that is mostly behind artistic and innovative processes.
Although last but not least, the geometric and spatial abilities of the right hemisphere involve the most notable cognitive abilities of this structure
Thanks to this, it is possible to organize space, generate mental images or build geometric structures.
Features
Related to the aforementioned characteristics, the right hemisphere is capable of conceiving strategies in a broad way, integrating the details that make up a situation or problem and allowing you to see holistically what is happening Thus, it is possible to see images, hear sounds and perceive smells as a whole.
1. Spatial orientation
Thanks to the right hemisphere it is possible to orient yourself in physical space. It allows you to know what object you are seeing or where you are based on aspects such as color, shape or other characteristics present in the environment.
Position oneself in space, identify objects, recognize faces of loved ones These are just some of the capabilities offered by the spatial capacity of this hemisphere.
2. Stimulus processing
In short, each cerebral hemisphere is responsible for developing and processing the stimuli captured in its opposite hemibody (half of the body). The right hemisphere is responsible for ‘feeling’ the stimuli that have occurred on the left side of the body
Thus, when we are touching something with our left hand, it would be the right hemisphere that would be in charge of processing the associated sensation.
3. Emotionality and non-verbal aspects
The right hemisphere takes on a great role in terms of the elaboration of feelings
Furthermore, when it comes to analyzing them, it opts for more integrative tools instead of analytical ones, unlike its left hemisphere counterpart.
On the other hand, it is capable of identifying non-verbalized aspects such as prosody in language (tone with which one speaks, expressiveness…).
You may be interested: “Are we rational or emotional beings?”
Sometimes it happens that one of the hemispheres suffers an injury These injuries affect the person’s cognitive abilities, which may imply a greater or lesser degree of discomfort after having suffered the accident. Right hemisphere syndrome is a neurological condition in which the white matter of this brain structure has been damaged. It may also be due to injuries that occurred in the pathways that connected to the left hemisphere.
In most people, the right hemisphere is usually the less dominant hemisphere. As we have already mentioned previously, this structure is the one that presents characteristics most related to non-verbal communication. Thus, a lesion in this hemisphere implies problems such as difficulties when interpreting facial gestures and postural variations.
With facial expressions, people indicate if they are happy, angry, sad, or disgusted by something in a very clear way. Postures are more subtle forms of emotional expression, and can indicate discomfort, nervousness or defensiveness. Although useful, verbalized language does not allow people’s feelings to be fully communicated and may even indicate the opposite (e.g., when one says that one is not nervous but one’s legs tremble).
For reasons like these, right hemisphere syndrome implies a great degree of impact on the person’s life, since it makes emotional recognition difficult. In addition, it also implies not being able to express with due emotional and non-verbal language what feelings are being felt, implying a clear impact on social life.
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Hutsler, J.; Galuske, RAW (2003). Hemispheric asymmetries in cerebral cortical networks. Trends in Neurosciences. 26 (8): 429–435.
