The right hemisphere can link together distantly related words and ideas
This difference in the brain hemispheres are not predicated on any of the old distinctions such as verbal versus visuospatial. It operates equally in the realm of attention to verbal information. The left hemisphere actively narrows its attentional focus to highly related words while the right hemisphere activates a broader range of words. The left hemisphere operates focally, suppressing meanings that are not currently relevant. By contrast, the right hemisphere processes information in a non-focal manner with widespread activation of related meanings. Whereas close lexical semantic relationships rely more on the left hemisphere, looser semantic associations rely on the right.
Because the right hemisphere makes infrequent or distantly related word meanings available, there is increased right hemisphere involvement when generating unusual or distantly related words or novel uses for objects. This may be one of many aspects that tend to associate the right hemisphere with a freer, more ‘creative’ style. The right anterior temporal region is associated with Po thinking, and the right posterior superior temporal sulcus may be selectively involved in verbal creativity. In the ‘close’ situation, by contrast, the left hemisphere actively suppresses the right, to exclude associations which are semantically only distantly related.
References
- Mcgilchrist, Iain. (2010). The Master and His Emissary Chapter 2 What Do the Hemispheres Do (87). London, UK: Yale University Press.
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Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Neuropsychology Status:☀️