Right brain/Left brain

As a follow-up to "the kids are mostly healthy now," I'm back to my Psych 101. :)

This week's chapter is on the brain and of course that is endlessly fascinating.  Definitely studying it makes me think of the verse, "we are fearfully and wonderfully made".

I've long said that Mark and I have many similar values and yet there are areas we are so different.  I often try and figure out those differences along gender lines or personality testing and those are surely factors.  But the distinct difference that I know is true is that I operate more out of my right brain and he operates more out of his left brain.

This makes sense to anyone who knows us well; but I've stumbled upon a small passage in my textbook that has shed more light onto our differences.

"Negative emotions are associated with greater activation of the right hemisphere, but positive emotions tend to produce greater activation in the left hemisphere" (Canli et al., 1998; Davidson, Shackman & Maxwell, 2004).

Hmmmm...... very interesting.   So, now let me launch into my own theories which probably constitute "anecdotal evidence" which my text book has warned me against....

I think I often operate in the world of possibilities, future, imagination, scenarios, anticipation, etc... these can be gifts that allow one to be a thoughtful friend, plan well for one's family, think through the bigger picture, imagine possibilities and help them come to fruition, etc.  HOWEVER, I think this same trait means that the present realities or unfoldings of all those dreams/schemes, etc, often doesn't actually "feel" the same way it did in the imagining stage.  I suspect many right-brain heavy people live with a constant disappointment, frustration, etc that they may turn on themselves (low self-esteem--i should have known better), may turn on others (blame--it would have worked if you hadn't done such and such), or perhaps more of a general depression that the world will always disappoint and that all is meaningless, etc.

The left-brain dominant person is living much more in the here and now, with all the data and information that can predict behavior or expectations based on logical analysis from the past, etc. They tend to be very steady emotionally and generally have appropriate expectations about their plans and how they will feel about them.  Because they have appropriate expectations, they are mostly positive about the plans they make and the experiences that they are able to predict.  The weakness for the left-brain person is if they have to prepare for an unknown situation, adapt and be spontaneous with things they can't plan for.  They also may suffer from inability to imagine another person's response to the situation.  From the left-brain people I know, they may also adapt to these weaknesses by avoiding a life with too many unknowns or unpredictable scenarios.

I'm assuming that no one is reading this an needing a serious diagnosis regarding why they have more positive or negative emotions but I did find this brain-break-down added a bit more explanation.  And when Mark and I have our act together, we're the perfect brain! :)