Question: Dear Joanna I always wondered together with my brother how the right and the left side of a brain works and how are they different. Like what features does the right side of the brain have that the left side doesnt and what is it good for? And what how does the left and right side of the brain function with your body or mind. It would be great if you could answer these questions for me. Carl

Joanna Brooks answered on 15 Jun 2010:

Hi Carl! OK, so you are right in thinking that the left and right side of the brain work in slightly different ways. As an example, we know that the left side of the brain is specialised for language processing and the right side of the brain for spatial processing. We know this because when one side of the brain is damaged you lose different skills – like language (left side) or spatial awareness (right side). We also know that each side of the brain does slightly different things because if you take images of the brain using fMRI – a type of brain scanner – while people perform certain tasks then different parts of the brain light up!

The brain works by sending electrochemical messages from one part to another – the human brain can contain up to 100 billion neurons which transmit electrical impulses. There are a number of specialised neurons on each side of the brain – in the above context some are specialised for language processing while others are specialised for processing spatial coordinates or depth information.