The myth of the creative-right vs analytical-left brain: debunked

left brain right brain mythI’m a neuroscientist by training. Popular culture would label me ‘logical, detail-oriented and analytical’. But when I was in high school, I considered applying to art school and pursuing career as a painter. Had I followed that path in life, would I be considered ‘creative, thoughtful and free-spirited’?

No doubt you’ve heard people say that the left side of the brain is the logical and analytical, whereas the right side of the brain is artistic and creative. Personality or cognitive processes (ways of thinking) are thought to be cultivated on one side of the brain or other giving rise to the rather nifty idea that you are “right-brained” or “left-brained”, creative or analytical … neuroscientist or artist.

Creative vs analytical, ‘right-brained’ vs ‘left-brained’ myth debunked.

This popular myth has once again been debunked by University of Utah neuroscientists who used brain imaging to show there is no evidence that people are ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained’. 

Neuroscientists have always known its a myth – but this is some new evidence thats worth exploring here.

University of Utah neuroscientist Dr Jeff Anderson, lead author of the study, says,


The Utah team scanned the brains of 1,011 people between the ages of seven and 29. They used a technique called resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fcMRI)… forget about that mouthful for now. They tested the idea that one half of a person’s brain is more active, more connected and more synchronised than the other.


The results of the study might finally change the way people think about the right-brain versus left-brain personalities says Jared Nielsen, a PhD student who worked on the study,





We know the left side of the brain controls movement on the right side of the body and vice-versa.  And some functions of the brain are more likely (but not always!) located on one side of the brain rather than the other.  Speech and language, for example, are  found in the left hemisphere, but not ALL aspects of speech are left-sided, intonation, for example, is found on the right. Also, studies of patients with tumours or stroke show that our sense of our body and limbs in space or ‘spatial perception’ is located to the right hemisphere.


The two hemispheres of the brain are also slightly different anatomically and microscopically (which means they look a bit different when you look at them with your eyes and down the microscope).  Some neuroscientists theorise that these differences and the brain asymmetries of language, spatial perception and handedness probably led to the prevailing myth that whole brain functions such as personality and styles of thinking are also located to one hemisphere or the other.

What if I AM more creative than analytical?

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has talents, and everyone has skills they need to develop. Recognise and foster your talents. Set goals and develop new skills. Just don’t attribute ‘whole brain’, global functions or personality to one side of the brain or other.


One problem that has arisen from this mythology is the raft of books, tests, apps, workshops and online games that exploit the myth by promising to help you ‘tap into your creative right brain’. Fine if you want to spend your money on them and expand on skills and knowledge that you may not already have, BUT this simplistic right-brained vs left-brained view of how the brain works is not grounded in evidence!







23 Responses to The myth of the creative-right vs analytical-left brain: debunked


  2. Really enjoyed your article in Mind Body Green today. It lead me to your site that has
    I’ll keep reading….


    Take this blog for example:




      Nice to have you round these parts.

  4. Thanks for this article, Sarah.










  9. Ok then have you read “My Stroke of Insight” by Jill Bolte Taylor PhD


    Are there any neurological explanations for this conundrum? Thanks, Anna



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