The brain is divided into two hemispheres, the right brain and left the brain. It is a very complex structure, but a modern theory suggests that each side is responsible for a different type of thinking. It is very difficult to separate the two structures, but experiments have determined that one side has more activity for specific types of brain activity than the other.
According to this theory, the right brain is responsible for random, intuitive, holistic, synthesizing and subjective thinking. The left brain is responsible for: logic, sequential, rational, analytical, and objective thinking. Each person has a bias, based on how they use the right brain and left brain to solve problems.
People who have a right brain dominance first apply creativity to problem solving. They are more reliant on intuition and quickly grasp the overall picture of a situation. As a rule, right brain thinkers are not very detail-oriented.
Left brain-dominant people prefer reason over everything else. They use rational logic to identity the cause of a problem and then think about how to solve it. As a general rule, left brain thinkers are detail-oriented.
The distinction between the functions of the right brain and left brain was first made during early attempts to identify the causes of speech issues. An autopsy of a patient with a severe speech disorder showed a large tumor on the left side of the brain. This tumor caused the patient to lose the ability to create a logical train of thought, although retaining the ability to speak.
Further research and investigation revealed a deep correlation between areas of brain activity and specific types of tasks. This area of research has grown considerably, as work on stroke rehabilitation and brain injury treatment become more important.The more we know about how the right brain and left brain function, the better treatment plans we can create to help these patients recover.
The difference between right brain and left brain is really one of preference. Both sections function normally and are required to work together on a wide range of tasks. The personal preference that we show between details and generalities are related to which side of the brain we prefer to use. Many physiologists reject this idea of hemisphere dominance and point out that this preference is one of personality. A person can be trained to use either side to a sufficient level of skill that there is no clear preference.