Debunked popular myth about the brain

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered that, contrary to popular myths, the brain is not strictly divided into "logical left" and "creative right" hemispheres. However, when perceiving visual space, each hemisphere continues to process the opposite side of the visual field. The research results are published in the journal Neuropsychologia.

"Talk about someone having a dominant right or left hemisphere has no scientific basis. You think with your whole brain," emphasizes Professor Earl K. Miller, one of the study's authors.

Nevertheless, when perceiving visual stimuli, neurons activate asymmetrically: the left part of the brain is responsible for the right side of vision, and the right part is responsible for the left. This division, according to Miller, helps avoid "blind spots" and increases the efficiency of perception.

Although it was traditionally believed that information merges into a unified picture at the level of the prefrontal cortex, scientists have discovered that even there, a bias toward the "contralateral" hemisphere—opposite to the source of the visual signal—persists. This is confirmed by measurements of brain activity: gamma-range waves intensify in the hemisphere that processes the corresponding part of the visual field.

Previous studies have also shown that people and animals better remember objects when they are distributed between sides of the visual field, which scientists call the "bilateral advantage." However, it is not perfect: a person can track only one object from each side.

However, despite such functional division, people have no difficulty observing an object moving from one part of the visual field to another. As the authors explain, the brain quickly "transfers" information between hemispheres, similar to how a signal switches between cell phone base stations. This ensures continuous and holistic perception of the surrounding world.