The right brain (aka the right hemisphere)
Our brains are highly sophisticated organs, with two hemispheres. While these hemispheres are separate, they communicate via the midline (corpus callosum), and so they don’t work completely independent of each other.
Some understand the left hemisphere to be ‘masculine’ and the right hemisphere to be ‘feminine’. Others consider the left hemisphere to be the logical, mathematical side, and the right hemisphere to be the artistic, creative side. But there is a lot more to it than that!
When we look at our children, it’s important to understand brain function to understand their behaviours. For example, if we have a child who is struggling with a specific tasks (like reading, or running.. etc), we can hone in on which side of the brain might be imbalanced. This can be harder than it sounds mind you - because we actually need both right and left brains to read! However, looking at our children from a developmental neurological point of view can change the way we understand, interact and ultimately connect with them (which we know will change their brain development trajectory too).
This blog focuses on all the things the right brain does [I hope you love learning about this as much as I do!].
The functions of the right brain
The right brain, aka the right hemisphere, takes over the entire right side of the brain [from front to back]. Kind of like, if you split the brain in two down the midline, you’d have two parts (hemispheres). As mentioned above, they are connected by a series of nerve fibres and don’t work in complete independence of each other. But there are certain activities that are predominantly a right brain function.
These include -
The big picture of the world (rather than details)
Sense of self
Control of larger muscles to do with posture and gait (or in a baby, muscle tone for motor milestones)
Controls where the body is in space and understands balance and proprioception
Non-verbal communication such as body language, tone of voice, facial expressions etc
It is known as the social brain (which I love, because guess what else is social? The vagus!)
Learning occurs subconsciously - particularly while the brain is still developing
ie you absorb things [how many of you have said your child is like a sponge?]
Emotions - both feeling them, and reading them in others, showing empathy
ie Emotional Intelligence
Sensations and feelings in the entire body
this could be from the body
from the gut
or from things such as smells and sounds
Cautious and driven by “is this safe?” (umm hello vagus nerve’s bestie!)
But also hates repetition, and loves novel and exciting things
Controls attention and focus
Decreasing impulsivity' especially in social situations
Decreases immune function, keeping it “in check” so the immune system doesn’t go rampant (such as autoimmunity)
I find often when reading a list like this, it can be easy to see how our own right hemisphere is functioning, as well as our kids’ too. I think it is important to remember that the nervous system is dynamic, and can shift and change depending on the needs of the environment. It responds to motor and sensory information all the time, before our conscious brain even knows about it. For example, the right hemisphere is sensitive to high levels of stress, so you might find during very stressful times if feels like some of these things are much harder, yet at other times you think your right brain is firing all cylinders. There are many other things that impact the right hemisphere such as low vagal tone, retained primitive reflexes, inflammation, and even structural imbalances in the motor and skeletal system.
