Left? Right? The answer may surprise you!

Sorry for the clickbait title, I can't help myself!

topic of the day 043 & video of the day 039

Do You Really Have Two Brains?

What? Who?
For over a century we've known that certain parts of our brain are specialized for certain tests, proven by people whom had specific injury of the brain often lack the ability to do very specific things i.e. speak, identifying objects and even recognizing loved ones. While the right side of the brain control the left side of the body (and vice versa) just like how what came into the left field of view would be perceived by the right side of the brain (and yes, vice versa), the brain hemisphere themselves are connected to each other with a neuron super highway called Corpus Callosum, both working in tandem with each other just like a well-oiled machine.

How? Why?

When they are split away from each other in the 1940s to treat epilepsy, a seizure akin to an electrical storm that could out the brain into overdrive, they found an unforeseen side effects i.e. each hemisphere working independent of each other with their own separate thought. Working with the above perception of opposite part of the brain for opposite part of the body, an experiment was conducted whereby the patient was able to draw with his left hand what he saw with his right brain and vice versa both at the same time. This shows that many brain functions are lateralized, with generally the right side of the brain processes spacial and temporal information (the when and the where) while left side control speech and language, but this doesn't mean that different people's one half dominates the other.

Then? So?

Brain is arranged like compartments, a collection of modules all working together but the real reason we use only tiny bits of our brain to do complex tasks is because our brain is big; having more neurons than most animals which means more connections. In fact, we have way too many neurons for them all to link up, as information would not be fast enough to go across our neuron network if they are 12 miles in diameter. Smaller circuits mean a more efficient head, just like how thousand of ants could work together in a cohesive colony without each individual getting instruction from their queen.

Lesson Learned:

Understanding how your brain works would highlight just how complicated our body really is inside.

source: YouTube, It's Okay to be Smart