The Brain and Learning (Research Paper Sample)

The Brain and Learning
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The Brain and Learning
Several researches regarding the impact of brain on learning have taken place. For a clear understanding of how the brain impacts learning, it is essential that we examine at the basic brain biology, which reveals that the brain plays various roles in the human body. Some components of the brain include the brain stem, hindbrain, cerebellum, and mid brain. Hugdahl & Davidson (2004) indicate that this parts of the brain form the ancient parts and are connected to the spine in order to aid in breathing, heartbeats and movement control. The brain also comprises of the limbic system that has a variety of specialized organs such as hippocampus and hypothalamus. These parts contribute to some memory functions and help in the generation of emotional responses. Lastly, it is the cerebral cortex, which is the distinguishing feature of the human brains. The corpus callosum is a thick layer of cells that divides the cortex laterally. The cortex also has a grey matter, which is considered as the main processing unit of the brain. Thus, these facilitate the left brain-right brain theory, which is utilized in the explanation of how the brain learns. In addition, various researches that have been done on brain lateralization also help in explicating how the brain learns.
This essay explicates how the left brain and the right brain impact learning.
The left brain-right brain theory asserts that both sides of the brain have their critical roles in the learning process. The right side of the brain has dominance regarding expressive and creative tasks, which explains why the following abilities are associated with the right side of the brain. These include recognition of faces, creativity, reading emotions, color, intution, and expressing emotions (Mehta, 2012). On the other side, the left brain is associated with logic, analytic thinking and language. Thus, it is best in critical thinking, numbers, language, reasoning and logic. According to Hugdahl & Davidson (2004), the left-right brain theory has been utilized in helping people who have difficulties following verbal communication. This is done through a person comprehension of his strengths and weaknesses in certain areas. This explains why people who ahve difficulties in following verbal instructions are advised to write down directions and develop better organizational skills, as that defect is associated with the right side of the brain (Coon & Mitterer, 2008).
Research into brain lataralization also abounds significant evidence regarding the role of the left brain and right side brain in the learning process. Coon & Mitterer (2008) abound evidence regarding the same through explication of how a patients with brain infections had difficulties in pronouncing some words. They explore the work of Paul Broca who worked on a patient christened Tan. The patient could only pronounce the word “Tan”, which resulted to that nickname. Notably, the patient had developed a cyst infection on the left side of his brain. This abounded evidence regarding the role of the left hand side of the brain. Various researches after Broca’s work also explicate how the brain plays a critical role in the learning process. These include Wernicke’s area, which concentrates with the naming of objects or syntactical processing, Angula gyri, which is involved with recognizing visual symbols and lastly, the Supra-marginal gyri.
Hampson (1994) indicates that almost 98 percent of people who are right-handed utilize their left hemisphere of the brain in controlling language. However, the author indicates that the situation is different regarding left-handed individuals as language is distributed evenly in both hemispheres of their brains. More specifically, the author points out that amongst the left-handed population, 19 percent of the population has language distributed on their left hemisphere while 68 percent of the population has language concentrated on their right hemisphere.
However, some researchers have placed the difference in learning influenced by the different sides of the brain on their concentration of grey matter-white matter ratios. Hugdahl & Davidson (2004) indicate that the right side of the brain h...