Scientists of all disciplines have pop culture ‘pet peeves.’ I’m sure physicists cringe at the rampant misinterpretation/misuse of quantum physics in movies (I’m looking at you, Ant-Man). I can almost hear the distant facepalm of a chemist each time a commercial plays that advertises ‘chemical-free’ soaps (like, all matter is technically a chemical by definition). As a neuroscientist, one of my pet peeves is the idea that people are either ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained,’ similar to how people favor their right or left hand.
It’s a misconception that’s based in some truth. In some of the early explorations of the human brain, scientists discovered that there were particular parts of the brain that were involved in certain specialized functions. If the back of the brain was damaged, vision issues would pop up. If certain areas on the left area of a patient’s brain were injured somehow, they would lose the ability to speak or understand language. As seen in the fascinating story of a patient known as H.M., surgical removal of the temporal lobe completely wipes out a person’s ability to form new memories. Work done by Roger W. Sperry in ‘split brain’ patients showed that the two halves of the brain function differently. However, his findings were popularized and taken out of context. (more…)