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Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

I didn't see a thread like this before, so forgive me if there already is one. I was thinking about the idea of "left brain" vs. "right brain" dominance, and how those functions impact our day-to-day lives. Then I wondered about how those natural tendencies might combine with or be influenced by ADHD.

My hypothesis is that there will be an over-abundance of right-brainers with ADHD, because so many of the characteristics associated with being "right brained" are characteristics sometimes associated with ADHD as well.

So, are you more left-brained or right-brained? If you don't know, or haven't taken a test in a while, you can check out this one online here:

http://www.wherecreativitygoestoscho...ht/rb_test.htm

It's from The Art Institute of Vancouver and it was pretty interesting, definitely one of the more detailed free tests online. It gave a percentage of left vs. right and then goes on to explain where your strengths are on both sides, and what that means for you as far as the way you learn and process information in the world around you.

For me personally, I am very right brained - 63% right vs. 37% left.

How about you?

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

My partner insists that these tests are nonsense, but I don't care.

64% right 36% left

What is the order of your percentages?

My highest were-

Non-verbal 50 R
Concrete 46 R
Fantasy-oriented 49 R
Random 39 R
Logical 30 L
Sequential 27 L

This is interesting. I wonder if there's any research to support this, or where they are taking this from?

Quote:

Low percentages are common in the Brain Type Test and are not indicative of intelligence. Instead, medium to high scores (30 - 50%) are desireable, as they show an ability to utilize a processing method without an abnormal reliance on it. Special focus should be paid to highly dominant (50% or above) or highly recessive (0 - 30%) methods, as they tend to limit your approach when learning, memorizing, or solving problems.

If you have Highly Dominant characteristics, your normal thinking patterns will naturally utilize these methods. Conscious effort is required to recognize the benefits of other techniques. Using multiple forms of information processing is the best way to fully understand complex issues and become a balanced thinker.

If you have Highly Recessive characteristics, your normal thinking patterns naturally ignore these methods. You may only consider these under-utilized techniques when "all else fails," or possibly not at all. It is important to recognize the benefits of all of your brain's capabilities in order to become a balanced thinker.

I guess I need to pay more attention to my "recessive characteristics"-

24% Intuitive R
14% Verbal L
12% Holistic R
9% Symbolic L
7% Reality-based L

I love that my understanding of reality is my most lacking attribute :rolleyes: And interesting that my verbal is so low but I talk so much. They should change the term to "aural"

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

I took the test and received 60% Right and 40% Left.
Not sure how I feel about getting a 62% in "random, my most dominant characteristic", haha! In the day to day, chatting it up and such, that isn't so bad. But in running through my life as a whole? Hard to be very productive.

I received a 0% in "verbal". Love those moments where I am trying to convey something important to the boss....lose my words....and just stare. Thankfully she generally helps me to locate those very words :)

Back when I was pretty carefree, single, no kids....I didn't mind any of this. As I get older and try to be more responsible :faint: , it really blows.

My highest scores:

62% Random
50% Nonverbal
40% Fantasy based
40% Reality Oriented (how can I have the same score in both?)
38% Logical
37% Concrete

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

The whole R/L brain thing isn't quite true-

Quote:

Broad generalizations are often made in popular psychology about one side or the other having characteristic labels such as "logical" for the left side or "creative" for the right. These labels need to be treated carefully; although a lateral dominance is measurable, these characteristics are in fact existent in both sides, and experimental evidence provides little support for correlating the structural differences between the sides with functional differences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral...brain_function

But I do find the ranking of percentages very interesting. I really want to know what that's taken from.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanners (Post 1387024)

(how can I have the same score in both?)

Each quality is ranked individually.

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

I posted on this yeeeeears ago. OK, maybe not too long ago. The memory ain't so good.

I'm one of those in the middle type of people. In childhood it was more right brained but now...I'll take the test and see what it says.

Yeah, people argue there is no specific area for creativity and logical thinking, but they don't have my fabulous artistic abilities.

Left Brain/ Right Brain
55% / 45% (Told you it was close)

You are more left-brained than right-brained. Your left brain controls the right side of your body. In addition to being known as left-brained, you are also known as a critical thinker who uses logic and sense to collect information. You are able to retain this information through the use of numbers, words, and symbols. You usually only see parts of the "whole" picture, but this is what guides you step-by-step in a logical manner to your conclusion. Concise words, numerical and written formulas and technological systems are often forms of expression for you. Some occupations usually held by a left-brained person include a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge.

That explains me so well. Now if you excuse me I need to send off my cover letter as a skating rink judge.

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

Woah, this has to be relevant to ADHD-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_brain_interpreter

Quote:

In neuropsychology the left brain interpreter refers to the construction of explanations by the left brain in order to make sense of the world by reconciling old information with what was known before. The left brain interpreter attempts to rationalize, reason and generalize new information it receives in order to relate the past to the present.

Quote:

The drive to seek explanations and provide interpretations is a general human trait, and the left brain interpreter can be seen as the glue that attempts to hold the story together, in order to provide a sense of coherence to the mind. In reconciling the past and the present, the left brain interpreter may confer a sense of comfort to a person, by providing a feeling of consistency and continuity in the world. This may in turn produce feelings of security that the person knows how "things will turn out" in the future.

However, the facile explanations provided by the left brain interpreter may also enhance the opinion of a person about themselves and produce strong biases which prevent the person from seeing themselves in the light of reality and repeating patterns of behavior which led to past failures. The explanations generated by the left brain interpreter may be balanced by right brain systems which follow the constraints of reality to a closer degree.

The checks and balances provided by the right brain hemisphere may thus avoid scenarios that eventually lead to delusion via the continued construction of biased explanations.In 2002 Gazzaniga stated that the three decades of research in the field had taught him that the left hemisphere is far more inventive in interpreting facts than the right hemisphere's more truthful, literal approach to information management.

I think my left brain interpreter is busted.

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

Quote:

Originally Posted by fracturedstory (Post 1387026)

Yeah, people argue there is no specific area for creativity and logical thinking, but they don't have my fabulous artistic abilities.

That's what I keep telling people! It kind of saddens me that it's not true. Maybe the problem is that it's all left brainers in charge. They just want to keep us down and feeling bad about ourselves.

This is a good article on it, it's not completely untrue-
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...ably-never-die

Quote:

There is more than a grain of truth to the left-brain right-brain myth. While they look alike, the two hemispheres of the brain do function differently. For example, it’s become almost common knowledge that in most people the left brain is dominant for language. The right hemisphere, on the other hand, is implicated more strongly in emotional processing and representing the mental states of others. However, the distinctions aren't as clear cut as the myth makes out - for instance, the right hemisphere is involved in processing some aspects of language, such as intonation and emphasis.

Much of what we know about the functional differences between the hemispheres comes from the remarkable split-brain studies that began in the sixties. These investigations were conducted on patients who’d had the thick bundle of fibres connecting their hemispheres cut as a last-resort treatment for epilepsy. Researchers, including the psychologists Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga, could present stimuli to just one hemisphere or the other at a time, and they discovered that the two halves of the brain acted like independent entities with contrasting processing styles

But it’s important to remember that in healthy people the two brain hemispheres are well-connected. The fictional doctor Gregory House called the corpus callosum that joins the hemispheres the “George Washington Bridge” of the brain, and in most of what we do, the hemispheres have evolved to operate together, sharing information across this bridge. Neuroscientists working in this field today are interested in how this coordination occurs.

------

Some studies have indeed shown that the right hemisphere seems to be involved more when we have an Aha! flash of insight. For instance, one study found that activity was greater in the right hemisphere when participants solved a task via insight, rather than piecemeal. Another showed that brief exposure to a puzzle clue was more useful to the right hemisphere, than the left, as if the right hemisphere were nearer the answer.

But insight is just one type of creativity. Telling stories is another. One of the most fascinating insights from the split-brain studies was the way the left hemisphere made up stories to explain what the right hemisphere was up to – what Gazzaniga dubbed the “interpreter phenomenon”. For example, in one study, a patient completing a picture-matching task used their left hand (controlled by the right hemisphere) to match up a shovel with an image of a snow storm (shown only to the right hemisphere). The patient was then asked why he’d done this. But his left hemisphere (the source of speech) didn’t admit to not knowing. Instead, it confabulated, saying that he’d reached for the shovel to clear out the chicken coup (the picture shown to the left hemisphere was of a bird’s foot).

I'm all about the Aha! moment myself. I have Aha! moments all day long.

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

Quote:

Originally Posted by fracturedstory (Post 1387026)

That explains me so well. Now if you excuse me I need to send off my cover letter as a skating rink judge.

Did it REALLY tell you that?! Hmm, I do think I would make a terrible skating judge. How can you put numbers on artistry?!

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

I do all that left brain interpretor stuff consciously. I never knew I was so left brain dominant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ana futura (Post 1387033)

Did it REALLY tell you that?! Hmm, I do think I would make a terrible skating judge. How can you put numbers on artistry?!

I'll figure out a way.
Art uses a lot of science and math.
I used to be against learning that way but it really helps me draw better, if I don't do it so freestyle and take time to measure everything up.
I hardly do it though.

I might take this moment to say that I think many misinterpretations and following arguments comes from the hemisphere differences. I'm on the middle ground so can go between both ways of thinking. Just my sudden two seconds ago thought up theory. It's just that the autism forum I go to, people just tear each other apart. Rigidity is very much a left hemisphere trait.

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

Left Brain: 37%
Right Brain: 63%

Your Left Brain Percentages

35% Sequential (Your most dominant characteristic)
27% Linear
27% Reality-based
17% Symbolic
9% Logical
7% Verbal (Your least dominant characteristic)

Your Right Brain Percentages

46% Concrete (Your most dominant characteristic)
44% Nonverbal
44% Fantasy-oriented
39% Intuitive
18% Holistic
17% Random (Your least dominant characteristic)

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

Quote:

Originally Posted by fracturedstory (Post 1387035)

I do all that left brain interpretor stuff consciously. I never knew I was so left brain dominant.

All the research on it is with split brain patients. It would be super interesting to see Gazzaniga's work applied to ADHD and ASD. Looking at the bit about the interpreter, I can't say that I'm right or left brain "dominant", only that the interpreter's maybe "not working" right-

I suck at reconciling the past with the present (left brain interpreter's job) but I also have strong biases and repeat past failures endlessly, which would mean the right brains not holding up it's end of the deal.

I'm sure I'm simplifying this way too much, and there's already an explanation for my failure to reconcile the past with the present that has nothing to do with this "left brain interpreter".

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

Quote:

Originally Posted by fracturedstory (Post 1387035)

I get what you are saying for visual art, and I share your experiences with measuring (I hate it, but I know it's good for me) but I always thought ice skating judging was ridiculous. Imagine if modern dance were in the olympics. As much as I like watching people skate, I think the scoring is a bit silly.

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

Quote:

Originally Posted by ana futura (Post 1387040)

I'm already applying rules in my head for judging it as we speak.

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

Well, I have a proposal for the international skating union, you can mention it when you apply- they should abolish the scoring and rank the skaters in order, after having seen everyone. And they should retro-actively apply this ruling to Michelle Kwan.

Re: Left Brain vs. Right Brain and ADHD

I'm also much like Fractured, it's a pretty close split and I'm including the percentage breakdown, though I don't know why anyone would care. Except Spock. Spock might be irritated by my apparent lack of logic...

Left Brain: 44%
Right Brain: 56%

Left Brain Percentages
35% Sequential (Your most dominant characteristic)
34% Symbolic
34% Verbal
32% Linear
27% Reality-based
17% Logical (Your least dominant characteristic)

Right Brain Percentages
48% Holistic (Your most dominant characteristic)
48% Fantasy-oriented
44% Nonverbal
28% Concrete
24% Intuitive
17% Random (Your least dominant characteristic)