Talents in the Left Brain

The Left "Human" brain

The right brain is the "animal brain" and analyzes the environment for the sights and sounds useful
for survival. In essence, animals are almost 100% "right-brained." Humans have kept the animal
talents on the right side, but have modified the left brain for language and tool use.

The following is a summary of talents found in the left brain. Each talent is a complex network of
different processes beyond what is mentioned here, but injuries or strokes in these areas would
result in serious loss of these specific talents.

Language Sounds
Sound input in the human left brain is specialized for discriminating the sounds of language. As
children grow in the first few months, their sound patch in the temporal lobe is hearing the sounds
of people talking, and remembering that certain sound patterns seem to always match certain
objects and actions.

Animals do have a limited symbolic vocabulary, and can communicate concepts with
certain sounds. The song sparrow in the tree near our house sings a very definite
song, which other song sparrows, out of sight, can translate as meaning that he is
claiming territory. This is definitely using a specific sound as a symbol to
communicate a real world concept. In contrast, a dog growling and baring its fangs is
not being very subtle or symbolic.
(Click here for a song sparrow territorial call -- 92 kb .wav file.)

Humans can make very fine distinctions in sound, and therefore meaning. For example we
can distinguish the difference in sound of "sat" and "sad." Instead of one bird song meaning
"territory," we have pages of words on a real estate contract. (If complexity of vocabulary and
grammar is a measure of human evolution, then this implies that, on the average, left-brained
women who talk a lot are more "human" than most men who do more grunting, and lawyers,
poets, and talk-show hosts may represent more evolutionarily advanced, human careers.)

Books give children exposure to much more complex vocabulary, and proper
grammar,than children will ever hear from oral language in normal family or school
life. This is especially true if parents read to the children, which gives young children
access to language and ideas years ahead of their own reading ability. Read, read,
read!!!!

Vision and Reading

ision in the human left brain is specialized for reading. The left brain learns to see
arrangements of lines we call alphabet letters.

For example...

1. The visual cortex looks for simple things such as " l o / "
2. Then the brain learns to perceive arrangements of lines as letters " d b p q v "
3. Then the brain learns to perceive arrangements of letters as words
l o -----> b ----> bat

"Dyslexia" means "can't read," and tells us nothing. There are dozens of causes of dyslexia See
the page on dyslexia for more information.

Phonics and Spelling

We think in the sounds of a language -- and can even think with a foreign accent. Reading is
merely a visual gimmick tacked onto our oral vocabulary and grammar. It is common to have
people who can speak but not read; it is impossible to have a person who can read but not
understand the same language when spoken.

Children at age 6 years have a good oral vocabulary and grammar. Also, their visual cortex has
usually developed enough to distinguish the visual shapes of letters. Now they are ready for
reading.

There is a special part of the cortex, called the "angular gyrus" which has evolved to match
sounds with letters. (A "gyrus" is simply a fold in the cortex that bulges up, while a "sulcus" is a
valley.) This is the area so important for spelling.
 existing oral vocabulary ------> phonics <--- visual perception of letters
||
ability to read

The angular gyrus develops from about age 6 to 9, then it is mostly finished for most
people. Done. If children are exposed to good phonics training in the Primary
grades, they will tend to be much better at spelling and reading. For example,
the term "word attack skills" means using phonics to sound out letters until they
trigger a match with the sound of a word already in the brain.

Reading is a code for oral language, and phonics unlocks the code.

(The "whole language" fad that ignored phonics was popular in education in the 1970s and 80s,
and resulted in a wave of poor spellers and readers going through the school system. I earned
money tutoring them.)

Grammar
Grammar is the spatial sense of vocabulary. This is especially true of English, which developed
a relatively simple grammar system that depends upon spatial order much more than endings or
gender. In English, we have grammar in our left brain that knows "Boy chases kangaroo" is
different than "Kangoroo chases boy." We could also draw pictures in our right brain to
symbolically say the same thing:
Left brain words = "Boy chases kangaroo" "Kangaroo chases boy."

Right brain images =

As a child grows, the brain soaks in whatever sounds it hears which we call vocabulary and
grammar. After age 10, the vocabulary and grammar parts of the brain are mostly finished
growing, and the thinking parts of the brain in the frontal lobe continues growing, building upon the
foundation of grammar and vocabulary learned in childhood.
Vocabulary --> Grammar --> Concepts --> Creative thinking

Body Senses
Body senses, such as touch, pain and limb position, are similar to the right brain, except that the
left brain senses the right side of the body. However, in the left brain they are important for
some forms of symbolic thinking (next section).
Symbolic Relationships
The spatial area of the brain, in the parietal lobe, senses complex arrangements. In the left brain,
this area works with symbols, not just visual shapes. Examples include...

Right / Left. The body senses tell a child which foot the mother is touching. Vision shows which
foot the mother is pointing to. Now the mother says the words, "Put on your left shoe." Eventually
the child's brain matches up the word "left" with a certain side of the body. More advanced learning
will allow the child to match the word "left" with map symbols and the world of navigation so he can
say "According to the map, we should make a left turn." This matches lines on a map with the left
side of his body.

My wife had an interesting experience while teaching Kodaly music to children. She taught herself
to use the left hand when she said "right" so the young children could mimic her, but afterwards
she often got left and right instructions wrong, "Turn left -- no, I mean right."

Reading Clocks. The parietal lobe matches up the sense of time with symbols of a
clock face. I once had an intelligent grade 10 student who could not read a traditional
clock because he had always used a digital clock as a child.

Math involves a variety of talents. A concept such as "add" must involve a child seeing the
difference between one and two cookies on a plate. The parietal lobes on both sides of the brain
work together on math. However, the left brain will tend to work harder on algebra (which is a lot
like language grammar), while the right brain will do most of the geometry work. Mental
arithmetic is strongly in the right brain because symbols must be moved around in a visual-
spatial way.

Creative Ideas
The creative area of the left frontal lobe rearranges words, concepts, symbols, and memories into
new patterns. In effect, this allows us to think up new things to say.

When we think about something, we are usually using oral language in our mind.
We can rehearse a speech, dream of a conversation, imagine a poem, and remember
what someone said on the phone. We can even think with a foreign accent. Most of
this goes on in the frontal lobe above our eyebrows.

Clues that this area is well-developed are indicated if a person is...

 "quick-witted" -- making fast associations of ideas and words

 good at improvising speech -- thinking of "what to say" impromptu
 good at carrying on an "intelligent" conversation instead of "small
talk"
 good at philosophizing with abstract concepts -- "why do we exist?"
Inhibitions and Worry
The lower frontal lobe, above the eyes, has the job of stopping a person from getting into
trouble through wrong actions. On the left side this means not saying the wrong thing at the
wrong time. Because most of our thnking is oral language, this area is important for "talking to
ourself" and worry.

If the area is too strong, then a person may worry so much that they are afraid
to do or say anything. Shyness is a survival mechanism for avoiding trouble.

If it is weakly developed, or injured, a person may say inappropriate

things, such as swearing too much or talking too much. Remember, the goal of this
area is to keep a person from trouble via the mouth, so if the person is losing friends by
what he says, then the inhibition area is not working well.

The Premotor area

The Left premotor area, in upper left front of the forehead, keeps track of sequential patterns --
words, symbols, ideas, that come one after another. This is highly important for humans with
symbolic thinking.

The area primarily would have evolved for planning tool use -- how to use tools in a sequential
way to accomplish symbolic goal.

Because the motor nerves cross, this left-brain premotor area controls the RIGHT HAND. Humans
are "handed" because one side of the brain specialized to do sequential operations. Most
humans have symbolic language in the left brain, so most humans are Right-Handed!

Key talents where this area is important include:

1. Tool use - doing a sequence of operations with the right hand.

2. "Logical" thinking - putting ideas together in sequence, so one follows another
3. Cause and effect reasoning - a basis for scientific thinking and "how-to" analysis
4. Grammar - Thinking, speaking and writing language in a sequential way to follow rules.
5. Rules for playing Games - what to do in what order, for a logical result. (However, many
games like chess also have a strong right-brain component of patterns.
6. Following recipes and instructions
7. Awareness of time, and possibly the passage of time in comparison to other events. (For
example, when people are using this part of the brain for intensive sequential analysis,
such as how to do something on a computer, time awareness seems to fail, and they will
say, "I lost track of time."
The Motor area
In the Left-brain, this area puts into practice the instructions from the left-brain pre-motor area, but
controlling the Right Side of the body. This of course covers the Right hand.

Because the Left side of the brain is language based, the Motor area also controls strongly the
instructions to speak language. (Stuttering may involve confusion between the left and right
Motor and Pre-Motor areas trying to control the single language ability.)

The Speech area

This seems to be a highly developed part of the general motor area, which evolved to handle the
difficult muscle control needed for speech creation.

Talents in the Right Brain

The Right "Animal" brain

The right brain is the "animal brain" and analyzes the environment for all the
sights and sounds useful for survival. In essence, animals are 100% "right-
brained." Humans have kept the animal talents on the right side, but have
modified the left brain for language and tool use.
The following is a summary of talents found in the right brain. Each talent is a
complex network of different processes beyond what is mentioned here, but
injuries or strokes in these areas would result in serious loss of these specific
talents.

Vision
Animals must be very concerned about their visual environment, both
for food and danger. Therefore, this area is one of the oldest and best
developed areas of the brain. Most animals can see shape, color,
motion perception, depth perception, etc.
Humans have added left-brain symbolic meaning to the visual images, such as
the word "rabbit" in the left brain to match the image in the right brain, or an art
critic trying to analyze the meaning in a Picasso painting.

The Spatial Sense

The spatial sense helps animals see objects in their mind, the "Minds Eye." For
example:

(A) The Object-Spatial sense allows animals to "rotate" an object in their

mind, imagining what it looks like from different angles.

This is very useful to a cat to analyze where a mouse is

hiding, mentally consider the mouse's path, and decide
where to sit to be in the best position to ambush it.

Human craftsmen use this talent extensively to build houses, design

jewelry, fix cars, etc. (In your mind, imagine opening the door of the cabinet under
the kitchen sink -- what would you see?) This part of the brain is also used by
humans to juggle math symbols for mental math (calculate "608 x 22 =" in your
mind).

(B) The Navigational-Spatial sense allows animals to keep track of where they
are in a larger environment, using the spatial relationship of landmark clues.
Bees can fly home in a "bee-line" using the sun as a landmark, even
compensating for changes in the angle to the sun as it changes within a few
minutes during the time they are in the hive or on the flowers. In the hive, scout
bees symbolically translate their navigational knowledge into the language of
dance -- different movements are "read" by other bees telling them what direction
the new flowers are in relation to the sun's angle, how far away they are, and how
good the source is.
Humans use this talent to find their car in the mall parking lot, and remember how
to drive their cars through a maze of city streets to get home after work. (While
inside a shopping mall, can you point in a "bee-line" to directly where you car is?).
We symbolically translate locations into maps, pointing with our fingers, and using
location and distance names. To imitate the bee's symbolic dance, we might use
symbolic language: "You'll find a very good ice cream store if you go that way 3
blocks and turn left."

Music
Music is an extension of sound talents used for animal communication, such as
bird songs.

Birds must be able to analyze the pitch, melodies, intervals,

rhythm and harmonies of bird songs to determine if the song is
of the same species, if the song is a territorial or mating call, and
which individual is singing. Animals as diverse as humpback
whales, parrots, and dolphins have intricate sound patterns for
communication.
Humans add more complexity with left-brain symbolism that can analyze music
into chromatic scales, the "key of D major", choruses, four-part harmony, etc.

Body Senses
Body senses includes touch, pain, and limb position. Because the brain is "blind,"
it must use these senses to learn about the body carrying it.
One important sense is "proprioception," which uses sensors in the joints to tell
where a limb is (Close your eyes and then try to keep track of your arm as you
move it around).
Humans use this proprioception sense when doing numerous
activities, including sports, dance and musical instruments. If
this area is weak, then a piano player will reach out with his arm
incorrectly and hit the wrong notes on the keyboard, and a
gymnast wouldn't know where her limbs were very well.

Memory
Memory processes are not well understood, but we know that the location for
many memories are in the temporal lobe. The right temporal lobe has mostly
visual memories and non-verbal sounds (bird songs, your pet dog, music, etc.).
Face Memory is so important that the brain has a special place for it, at the
bottom of the right temporal lobe. As a child, you were exposed to many faces,
and your brain learned an "average" face. Your brain remembers individuals by
how they differ from the average. In fact, the brain defines a "beautiful" face as an
"average" face because it has no deviations or defects.

Animals developed this feature to tell friend from foe, and identify
family members. Humans see each other as individuals but may not
identify cows well, but the cows know each other as individuals and think most
humans look the same.

Emotional Memory is a special feature of the front of the temporal

lobe. It stores emotional tags on memories as a way of
determining the importance of the memory. A pet dog may have
"pleasure" emotions associated with its memory, while the dog down
the street may have "danger" emotional tags. The sight of each dog's image
may trigger the emotions, or thinking the emotions may trigger the images.

Emotional tags learned very young can become the basis of

phobias, racial prejudice, and tribal warfare, and are very
difficult to change in adults.

The Creative "Yes" area

The central frontal lobe creates new ideas and patterns from the raw material in
memory and senses.

Creativity is a talent that is based on the strength of other talents.

The field of creativity depends upon which patches this area is
strongly connected to, such as art, dance, music, architecture, etc. A
person with this area strongly connected to the face memory patch may
be good at organizing social relationships.
This area is also the "Yes" or "Go" center. It's job is to think up an action (which
may or may not be creative). People who have a strong Go center will tend to
say "Why not?" and be the first to to do wild or dangerous things. People
with weak Go centers will tend to be lazy and unmotivated.

The "No" or Inhibition area

Inhibition is in the lower frontal lobe. It's job is to inhibit the "Go" center, thus
striking a balance, and protecting people from acting in a way that can lead to
danger. It is a self-protective talent. This is where we learn what is right and
wrong behavior, store ourconscience, and learn social manners (correct
behavior).
If this is naturally weak, or not well developed, then a person will have low
inhibitions, and perhaps anti-social or criminal behavior, which may put the
person in danger.

A person with a strong inhibition talent will tend to think "no" to new ideas and
suggestions, thereby over-protecting themselves. Unfortunately, this aspect can
also bother other people, such as teenage children or employees, who are excited
with new ideas or plans.

Animals that stay in groups will have the most need

for learning inhibitions, and therefore be the most
trainable.Individuals in a
pack of wolves or dogs, a group of apes, or a tribe of
humans, need to learn "social behavior" to survive well.
Solitary animals such as house cats don't need to learn many inhibitions. This can
explain why dogs become so sociable and trainable, while house cats can't be
trained well (lions in Africa live in groups, so may be more trainable than house
cats).

The Premotor area

The premotor area is where muscle action is learned, through
practice.
This is the key area for learning actions, such as learning to
fly, catch mice, dance, swing a tennis racket, play a piano, or
shuffle cards. When a behavior is thoroughly learned, it becomes
a habit.Interestingly, some muscle action can be practiced mentally.

If this area is strong, then people learn complex actions quickly, such as a
new dance step. If it is weak, then people learn slowly, and need to practice a lot.

The Motor area

The motor area is like a puppet master controlling individual muscles by
pulling strings (the premotor area is the puppet master, and the creative area
writes the script).

1. Creative area ----- "I want to hit the ball in the right field"
2. Inhibition area -----"I better not hit a foul ball"
3. Premotor area ---- Remembers how to swing a bat through practice
4. Motor area ------- Sends impulses down to the arm muscles
5. Cerebellum ------- Makes muscle movements smooth and graceful
A person with many neurons devoted to this will tend to have more precise control
of individual muscles, which is useful in craft work and playing musical
instruments.

The nerves cross going to the brain, so the right motor area controls
the left side of the body, such as the left hand. Left-handed people
operate from the right side of the brain.

Injuries or strokes on the right side of the brain make the left side of the
body paralyzed.

The Cerebellum
The cerebellum at the back of the neck coordinates muscle motion. The motor
area sends a command to reach for a glass of water. If the cerebellum is well
developed, then it intercepts the muscle signals and modifies them so that the
hand slowly accerelates smoothly to start with, then slows down smoothly as it
gets near the glass. If the cerebellum is weak, then the arm may shoot out
awkwaredly and knock the glass over.

A good cerebellum action produces...

1. Fluid, graceful, cat-like motion.

2. Good balance
3. Speed of repetitive motion (important for typing speed and
playing music)

A weak cerebellum can show up as being awkward, clumsy, falling easily, and
typing slowly,

Left and Right Sides

The Right side is the animal brain, specializing in what is important to animal
survival, such as:

 Visual images -- basic observation

 Face images -- recognizing a special
individual
 Spatial sense -- remembering where the
nest is
 Music -- remembering bird songs, mating calls, etc.
 Learning actions -- how to hunt for food, or attract mates
The Left side is the human brain, with features almost unique to humans. Very
little of this specialization has been identified in the non-human world, including
apes. Examples include:

Sequential planning -- originally for tool use, now useful for

important things needed for human survival, such as planning
committee meetings, and writing scripts for TV soap operas.
 Symbols -- originally useful for making hand signs to
indicate a mammoth over the hill, now useful for important modern
functions such as road signs and calculating income tax.
 Language -- originally useful to communicate using grunts and belches to
indicate a good meal of bear steak, now useful for important functions such
as politicial speeches and Email.

Connections

The Corpus Callosum is a bundle of fibers that

connects the left and right sides of the brain.

1. When you meet a person, or learn vocabulary in

a language, the sound of the name is remembered
in theLeft temporal lobe, and the Visual image of
the objectis remembered in the Right temporal
lobe.
2. When you hear the name of an object or
person, your brain can can match the name with a
image in your memory.

Men vs Women Differences, and Feminine Intuition

A --- HOW men's and women's brains are different

Evidence from neuropsychology, especially clinical evidence of what happens to people after
strokes and brain injuries, gives fairly logical explantions about natural differences between talents
of men and women.

1. Experts vs. Generalists

Why are women not more important in history as geniuses? The usual assumption is that women
have not had access to education and have not had the opportunity to excel. This is true to an
extent, but not the cause. There is a real difference in brain design -- women tend to have more
balanced brains, whereas men tend to have more specialized brains. To understand this
section, it is important to have read the previous section on "balanced" brains.
 A very important observation of stroke and injury
victims is that "men who have had unilateral
brain damage [left or right side only] tend to
show more profound deficits in functions
associated with the side of lesion than do
women with similar lesions." (Lezak 1983).

Translated this means that women tend to have talents distributed over larger areas. For
example, men tend to have language concentrated in the left brain, and may lose all language
ability with a damaged left brain, whereas women temd to have language talents spread over both
hemispheres.

These observations are based on averages of many people. Every person is different. Some
women have very specialized brains and become absent-minded experts, and some men
have balanced brains and become good balanced thinkers amd multi-taskers.

The following graph shows an overlap of talents, and you could be anywhere on the bell curve of
the population.

These are only tendencies.

Where do you fit?

Men with Women with

more speciali more balance
zedbrains d
brains

Better at managing, generalist

More likely to become thinking, and "intuitive"
Advantages
geniuses and experts thinking (ie. aware of many
aspects of a situation).
More likely to become
Disadvantages absent-minded experts, and Less likely to excel as experts
be poor managers
President, CEO, Manager,
Musician, Craftsmen,
Careers where this tendency Supervisor, Mother, Nurse,
Specialist in any field, and
is a real advantage Secretary, Lawyer, Cook,
any career using spatial sense
Teacher

Examples are easy to find.

 Hospitals are almost "run" by nurses. Specialist male doctors ask the generalist nurses what
is happening with their patients.
 Secretaries are exceedingly important at keeping most organizations operating smoothly,
thereby making the CEO and specialists successful.
 Most men do not seem very adept at being house-husbands, which involves keeping track
 of many things happening at the same time.

2. "Feminine Intuition" is Real

(a) Men tend to be very narrow focused so they miss other details around them. What they
pay attention to is usually what they are good at.

 A man who likes cars will walk down the street thinking about the cars parked along the
road -- their make, model, history, horsepower, body rust, paint job, dollar value, etc.

(b) Women with their multiple-focus brains will notice and think about many things.

 The old man on the steps looks lonely and hungry, and may have lost his job, and his shoes
are untied..
 The traffic lights all are painted a dull shade of yellow that does not match the yellow of the
light
 The person in front is carrying books so may be going to the library that is a block away
 The woman in the car is sitting away from the driver and frowning so they may have had an
argument.
 A terrier dog is running across the lawn ....and may run out in front of the car with the
unhappy couple...who may not notice the dog and run over it...and the dog may belong to
the old man... and he will suddenly jump up and trip on his shoelaces...but the light is yellow
so it may turn red and stop the cars in time before the dog is run over.

She might suddenly call the dog to get its attention... which makes him stop running, and none of
the accidents will happen. No one gives her credit for preventing the accident, but her husband
wonders why she is yelling and why she didn't notice the Jaquar XKE in mint condition they just
passed. She smiles at him, not in criticism but with understanding of his maleness, and respect for
his special knowledge... yet she quietly stops to comb down the patch of wind-blown hair sticking
up from his head and wishes he had worn a different shirt that matched the color of her sweater.

3. Women talk, men grunt

Women have a reputation for talking because, on the average, more of the female brain is devoted
to language. Of course, some men also have strong language areas, and may become teachers,
lawyers, and writers, but the tendency is for women to have stronger language development.

In contrast, the right brains of men tend to be more like their animal ancestors, with skills useful for
hunting and warfare ( talents needed today for driving their SUV through commuter traffic).

Often when couples get together, the women use their strong language and generalist skills to talk
in the kitchen, prepare food, and manage the party, while the pack of men in the living room grunt
and scream right-brain animal sounds as they watch someone make a goal on TV sports.

The men will also be treating the TV Remote as if it were a spear, pointing it at the TV, searching
for prey (programs) as if they were deer hiding in the trees, and always looking for something better
on the next mountain (channel).

B --- WHY men and women's brains are different.

Human brains evolved differently for cave-men and cave-women.

Rather than just have people laugh at sex differences with jokes about "dumb blonds" or "boys
toys" which involve ridicule, I would prefer to understand how male and female brains evolved very
logically, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. I see ignorance about these male-
female brain differences as the main cause of marriage problems.

Early humans developed some unusual traits for good reasons. As the jungles of eastern Africa
changed to grasslands during a long drying spell, jungle apes designed for trees were at a
disadvantage in catching food. Evolution favored walking upright which allowed more use of hands
and arms for using tools.

1. Cave-MEN evolved their animal right-brain talents, such a visual spatial, into advanced
abilities in hunting, fighting, design, inventing, using tools and operating equipment.
The left brain language tends to be less developed, ranging from grunts and shrugs to
dyslexia.

Hunting led to many brain developments for humans, such as

 Tool use led to more advancement in brain design. --

A sense of time was very useful in planning tools for future hunting trips.
Creative visual-spatial ability allowed imagining a finished spear point when looking at a chunk of flint, and the path of an
imaginary spear flying through empty space to hit an animal in specific vital points if thrown at a high or low angle and at
different speeds, before he threw his new spear.
 Logical thinking solved problems of losing the spear head by notching and tying it to a shaft.
 Language use could easily have developed to help with hunting. Pointing the hand or spear at an elephant and grunting a
sound to match would associate the grunt with the object as a name.

However, cave-MEN developed specialized traits over millions of years that were perfect for hunters, and which ancient CAVE-
WOMEN probably took for granted.

However, MODERN-WOMEN, often don't appreciate the following special features of hunters that are still so important for the
self-respect of many men. To criticize these traits is to criticize a husband's natural instincts and "manhood"

1. Limited language skills. For a hunter who was often alone during the hunt, language for most males didn't need to
progress much beyond grunts when thinking about something when alone, shrugs as a way of quietly communicating to
fellow hunters tracking a prey, and yells when the spear hits the goal...as demonstrated by men watching sports on TV
today.
2. Risk-taking. Men hunting for dangerous animals had to take dangerous risks, and even the hunt itself was a gamble about
finding game. The fear center in the brain decreased. Some people get a pleasure high from adrenaline, so fear emotions
are replaced by pleasure emotions. This seems to be more common in men than women.
3. Tribalism. The tribe is highly important for any social animals, especially to men defending a fmaily or village. Tribal thinking
in the brain attaches emotions to groups of people about who are "the good guys" and "the bad guys." This goes for both
war and sports...the words "kill them" used routinely by men watching their favorite team/tribe in a competitive sport.
4. War. War is a spin-off of hunting skills and tribalism. War is like a hunt because it often brought home valuables like loot,
land, women or slaves. The thrills and risks of danger of war were similar to attacking a mammoth or bear.
5. Bragging. Men would naturally brag to the world about their own hunting skills when sitting around with other hunters at the
fire, or when coming home to the family and neighbors. Bragging was good in the hunting world because the stories taught
 the young men how to act, and brave men brought back more food for their families. Boys would want to apprentice under
the best hunters, and the boys learned who were the best hunters by how much the hunters bragged. Modern men usually
brag also about ownng the best car / house/ boat / TV set / computer / stamp collection / etc.
6. Non-sympathetic toward weakness. The cave-man brains would have had little encouragement to develop sympathy for
the timid or weak human or animal. A weak or cowardly fellow hunter could lead to failure and starvation. A weak prey would
be too easy to kill and not allow bragging about strength or bravery.
7. Works hard to make lot of money, because he knows that the wife wants a new house / dress / jewelry/ trip / furniture /
kitchen remodel / etc. (Romance novels usually follow a standard theme that a woman can't be happy unless she marries a
rich husband, and men know that.)

In other words, when the husband...

 Proudly polishes his fancy car (mammoth tusk) in the driveway in full view of neighbors,
 Grabs the TV remote (spear)
 Shrugs or grunts an answer as of to say it's not important
 Gambles (in moderation)
 Races his motorcycle or parachutes off cliffs
 Yells and screams when his team scores a goal
 Brags about the big contract he achieved at work today
 Works long hours to make lots of money for his wife
 Doesn't show much sympathy when little Jimmy skins his knee

...the wife should be proud of catching a "real man."

Modern men who act differently, more like a cave-woman with feminine traits, would not have survived well in a cave-man
world.

2. Cave-WOMEN evolved brains (and bodies) for talking and nurturing in a family

1. Nurturing instinct. Most mammal babies grow fast and become independent within a year. Baby horses can walk within
minutes, run within hours, and follow the herd within a day. The important point is that by next Mother's Day most female
mammals give last year's baby a cold shoulder, kick him out of the nest, and give birth to the next little one. Little Bambi
didn't give mom many clover leaves after getting the boot.
But as humans evolved larger brains, female humans had a problem -- the larger brain meant larger heads and more labor
pains. Women solved the problem by organizing the first labor strike. Early cave-women began minimizing labor pains by
having babies more premature with smaller heads and under-developed brains. (Too premature and the baby would die. Not
premature enough and the mother would die. Nine months was the compromise agreement after a million years or so of
contract negotiations.)
2. Body talents. To be successful at raising children with larger heads, women needed wide hips for birth. Cave-women also
evolved a shoulder design that made it natural to carry a baby while nursing, but in the process their shoulders and arms
were not as good for throwing spears (or baseballs, etc.). Cave-men idolized women who would produce lots of children so
idolized wide hips and breasts. Also, if their wives were fat, that told their neighbors that the man was a good hunter. The
earliest human figurines are called "fat venuses." Roman statues of "beautiful women" showed them as very plump, showing
them to be from a rich class with a rich husband.
3. Management talents. This premature birth meant mom had to become domestic, good at managing a cave. Even at nine
months the baby has so much growing to do before it can be kicked out of the nest that mom has to say no to the going on
with the husband's "business trip" of a mammoth hunting. And mom has another baby next season, along with other children
still hanging around the nest until they get married off. With many things happening in the cave, including cooking the food,
disciplining or feeding the children, caring for the old people, talking with all of the people, and sewing up leather clothes,
women developed management talents to juggle the many activities and people.
4. Language talents. Many family members in a cave led to lots of interaction, so women developed good language skills to
manage the people and for teaching ideas to the young children. Grandmothers who told stories to their grandchildren about
ancestors, legends, history and morality are a main feature of most cultures. (Grandmothers are so important for passing on
skills and stories that in one First Nations group on the west coast of Vancouver Island in western Canada, "if there was not
a grandmother the young woman would be given traditional medicine to prevent her from having children." -- from
thenuuchahnulth.org stories)
C--- The single-focus "bachelor pad" vs. the multiple-focus "woman's
touch"
When our daughter was pregnant, we went to a social event with her. I noticed that the women kept discussing "when she was due."
When the men met, they asked, "what do you do?"

1. A man's achievements, careers and hobbies define his identity ...whether it's the size of
mammoth he caught, or things he has accumulated, or skills he has shown, or size of his boat, or horsepower of his car.. A man living
alone fills his house, time and life with what's important to him.

You know "a batchelor lives here" when the house may be a mess, but the man ignores the mess and instead talks about
"important things" such as his achievements to impress women with how much a real man he is...

 HIS complete collection of original Beatles CDs.

 HIS photographs and books and models of steam locomotives of the British Empire.
 HIS library of original leather-bound books from Hemingway.
 HIS wall full of high powered stereo equipment with 26 speakers around the house
 HIS monster computer system with 32 Gigabytes of Ram and a 12 Terabyte hard drive
 HIS opinon on .....

However the apartment may be a mess -- with dirty dishes or floor, no curtains on windows, lack of planning of a color scheme,
unmatched furniture or kitchen utensils, no flowers in vases, behind on rent payments, dirty dishes left over from breakfast, the meal
pizza delivered to the door, and his favorite loud music playing so you can't talk.
When the neighbours knock on the door wanting him to turn the music down...he turns the music up instead. Turning the music down
is to show cowardice in the face of an enemy, and would not show off his stereo equipment power.

2. A "woman's touch" in a home means that she has taken care of many intuitive details,
especially relating to human relationships and making the house feel like a home, a pleasant
"cave" for her family to live in.

You know "a woman lives here" when you see the following "feel good" aspects
 Family pictures are on the walls
 Things are generally neat and clean and sanitary
 The curtains on the windows match and are nicely done
 The furnishings and decorations are probably a similar style
 There are fresh flowers, real not plastic, on the table.
 The music is background music so it doesn't interfere with conversation
 Food is to be served in an attractive way on the dining table.

D --- Some myths about creativity and "left-right brain"

1. Myth: Women are more "right-brained"

Reality = WOMEN on the average tend to be more "left-brained" than men.

A commonly voiced myth, usually spoken or written by women in books for women, is that "women are more right-brained than men."
This is wrong. The evidence from strokes and injuries shows that women have more language development over more areas of
the brain, as described above. Because language is a left-brain specialty, women tend to be actually more "left-brained" than
men, on the average.

Compared to the average male, women tend to have more left brain talents such as talking more, talking more intelligently and
logically, and to be better at secretarial skills of keeping track of schedules, organizing file cabinets sequentially, and writing
eloquently.
Girls in school tend also to excel at language skills and history with its sequential thinking.

Reality = MEN on the average tend to be right-brained

For example the right-brain spatial area is important to animals for finding food, and for humans operating equipment, designing
bridges, fixing car engines, and building houses. Men tend to be better drivers in high-speed situations like racing where right-brain
spatial sense is so important. Men are often very impuslive rather than logical, their language in grunts rather than perfect grammar.

Part of the "women are right-brain" myth includes the myth that "left-brained men are more militaristic" and thus cause wars. Yes,
men cause almost all wars and military operations, but it is because war is mostly a cave-man and right-brain operation, -
planning, tool use, hunting skills, tribalism and visual-spatial, with little sympathy for weakness-- flying airplanes, aiming guns,
deciding who is the enemy, establishing territory, sneaking around the woods, and so on.

2. Myth: Women have a strong right brain because of their strong emotions

Reality = Emotions are not exclusive to women.

The temporal lobe is the main location of memories. Language sounds and words on the left side. Music sounds and images on the
right side.

The front of the temporal lobes combine emotions to memories. As someone said, "emotions tell us how important our memories are.

With strong left brain / language abilities, women will tend to put strong emotional attachments to language. This makes them very
aware of emotional inuendos and meanings to what people say.

3. Myth: Women are more "creative"

Reality = Women will tend to be more creative in their instinctual talent areas, such as
language, people and relationships.
Creativity itself has nothing to do with male vs. female, it has to do with what talents or parts of the cortex are most wired to
the creative "yes" patch in the frontal lobe.

If there are strong connections between the creative frontal lobe and music sounds, then the person will tend to be strong at imagining
new patterns of music sounds, and have a career as a composer.

However, because women tend to have stronger left-brain language development, they will naturally tend to have stronger creative
connections to language and people talents.

 Creative planning for events of all kinds, (parties, conventions), buinsess operation, nopn-profit organizations, organizing
people in any situation, managerial
 Creative writing, especially about people and relationships, romance stories
 Creative storytelling, a classic grandmother role in most cultures
 Creative acting, combining women's talents for language,. people awareness, and intuition.
 Creative "cave" interior decorating, moving the furniture or mammoth bones around and repainting
 Creative ideas about other people when talking with other women (the source of the "gossip" idea) and imagining romance
or matchmaking

Men will men will tend to have more creativity with standard animal visual-spatial talents in
the right-brain.
These are very important for human tool-using activities, such as hand tools, construction, engineering, invention, architecture,
operating equipment, weapoins, strategic thinking, as explained above,

Balanced or Genius?
1. The Balanced brain
 2. The Normal brain
3. The Genius brain
4. The Idiot Savant

The page on the "Patchwork Quilt" brain hows how the brain cortex is divided
into specific patches for specific jobs or talents. However, the size,
development, and even exact location of the patches varies greatly from
individual to individual. This forces brain surgeons to spend much time in
mapping out a person's brain with electrodes before operating on it.

1. The "Balanced" brain

Imagine a pie sliced into sections, with each section representing

a talent in the brain. A person with a perfectly balanced brain, with
all talents equally strong, would look like a pie with equally sized
slices.

The size of the pie could represent amount of talent. A super person with high
levels of all talents would have a bigger total pie.

Balanced, Lower talent: Balanced, Higher Talent:

2. The "Normal" brain

Who has a "balanced brain" where all talents are equal? Almost no
one!

Normal people have many variations in talents. You might have

strong music rhythm sense and want to dance, but with lower coordination talent
you may stumble often when dancing. Your language skills may be good in
grammar but weak in spelling.

3. The "Genius" brain

The genius brain tends to have one or more talents that are
exceptionally large. These are usually real differences -- the people
will actually be born with genetic instructions to develop some
areas of the brain an extra amount. (Whether the genius talent is
recognized and developed is another matter, as mentioned about Leonardo da
Vinci in today's school system on the home page!)
The "absent-minded professor." There is often a price to pay for being a
genius. There is only so much room inside the skull for cortex, even with it folded
a lot. There is a tendency for geniuses to be very strong in some talents yet
noticeably weak in others. If one pie slice is extra big, then other pie slices
may get sacrificed, as shown in the diagram above.

Stories about Albert Einstein being absent-minded make the rest of

us normal people feel a little less intimidated. Ironically, he was a genius in math
talents, but was famous for his forgetfullness about time and schedules.
Appropriately, he invented the theory of relativity where time was no longer very
important.

Where the "absent-mindedness" will show up depends upon which other

talents were sacrificed to make room for the super talent. Many times it may
not be anything noticeable, such as a great musician who might be weak in
navigating his way around a supermarket (because most of the spatial area was
devoted to musical perception rather than visual perception). However, the
"Yes" creative area of the brain is often large at the expense of the lower
"No" or inhibition center, producing a genius who acts "funny" or
uninhibited.

4. The "Idiot-Savant" brain

Some people are occasionally born with "super-talents" such

as the ability to memorize a phone book at a glance, or play a
Mozart piano concert at age three. This is really an extension
of the genius patttern above. Unfortunately, the sacrificed
areas of low talent may render the person unable to live
normal lives, so they end up in institutions. The term idiot-
savant basically means dumb-smart, reflecting the talents being out of balance.
(Most are males, reflecting the sex differences in the next section.)

"Left" or "Right"-Brained Types

Most people will demonstrate Left and Right brain talents at different times, but some
people tend to strongly use the talents on one side of the brain so much that it
strongly affects their personality as seen by others.

People can be crudely labelled "Left-brain" if they normally use

their left-brain talents much more than right-brain talents.

"Left-brained" people tend to...

 Have strong language talents and talk a lot.

 Analyze everything logically. When talking about something, they start at
the beginning, and go logically to the next event, often giving explanations.
"Next we did this, because..."
 Like to keep events on time and on track, and like to be punctual
 Often ask "why" after someone else has said something.
 Often say "not necessarily" because their brains see a different logic
 Like TV documentaries that explain things.
 Like non-fiction books, text books, and instruction manuals.
 Like daytimers, computer schedule programs, etc.
 Have neater desks, with papers filed neatly

People can be crudely labelled "Right-brain" if they use

their right-brain talents much more than left-brain talents.

"Right-brained" people tend to...

 Talk randomly, rather than in a logical order.

 Be very visual, often preferring pictures and diagrams instead of word
explanations ("visual learners").
 Draw pictures and doodle in their school notebooks and on scratch paper.
 Get very impatient when a person is trying to explain something in logical
order. They may want to jump to conclusions, or just get distracted by
other things happening around them.
 Not follow schedules well, be late for events, be impulsive, etc.
 Have messy desks with unfiled papers -- a RAD (random access desk)
The Patchwork Quilt Brain
The Cortex

The brain is not just a lump of "gray matter," it has a very logical structure.
Billions of neurons grow and interlock into very specific
arrangements.

The outer cortex layer is divided into very distinct patches, each with
specific jobs or "talents." I call it the "patchwork quilt brain." This
page shows the
microscopic proof of
how distinct each patch is,
and the next page shows the
arrangement of
patches.
At left is a slice of the visual
cortexof a monkey, at the back
of the brain.
The section below
at A in the picture shows a
close up view of the patch
designed to first process
information coming in
from the eye, looking for lines
and angles. Notice that the
neurons are arranged
into layers to do their
job.
The Patchwork Cortex

The cortex is divided into many specific areas or "patches", each with a specific
job

B (below) and C (at right) show very

distinct changes in layers and show
the exact change from one patch to
another. Being in the visual area, the
neighboring patches shown here might
be designed to analyzemore complex
visual detail such as depth perception,
motion perception, or object recognition.

Patchwork Talents

Patches are extremely important for understanding talents.

Each patch represents specific abilities or talents, and vary greatly from
one person to another.

For example, imagine your own brain and the patch shown above for
analyzing lines and angles.
If this patch of your visual cortex (ie: the talent for discerning angles)
is well developed, you may be very concerned about whether pictures
are hung straight on the wall because your brain is very talented at
noticing slight angle variations.

On the other hand, if it is actually deficient, you may have trouble parallel
parking, because you don't notice angles very well.

You may have a well-developed patch or talent for analyzing angles and lines,
but have a weakly developed patch or talent for depth and motion perception, so
that you are good at perceiving the angle to park your car, but have trouble
judging how far away the other car is and bump into it.

Compensating for Injury

If one patch of the cortex is damaged, then the other patches can not change
their design and wiring! Instead, the brain tries to compensate by using
different strategies. Also, many injuries are not total, and the patch may be only
partially damaged, allowing for partial use.

The exception is babies and very young children. When parts of the brain have
not fully developed, then the brain patches may be able to regrow new
connections somewhat.

Some Causes of Aphasia Include:

 Stroke
o ischemic: blockage that disrupts blood flow to a region of the brain
o hemorrhagic: a ruptured blood vessel that damages surrounding brain tissue
 Traumatic brain injury
 Brain tumors
 Brain surgeries
 Brain infections
 Other neurological diseases (e.g., dementia)

Aphasia is an acquired neurogenic language disorder, so you cannot be born

with it.

What is Broca's Aphasia?

Individuals with Broca's Aphasia have trouble speaking fluently, but have good comprehension skills; it
is also known as Non-fluent or Expressive Aphasia.

Symptoms include:

 Telegraphic speech
 Short sentences
 Omit words (mostly pronouns and verbs)
 Have good self-awareness, so they get frustrated easily
 Understand gestures and visual cues
 etc.
What is Wernicke's Aphasia?
Individuals with Wernicke's Aphasia lack the ability to grasp and understand the meaning of spoken
words and sentences; however, they have no trouble producing speech, but their speech can be
meaningless. It is also known as Fluent or Receptive Aphasia.

Symptoms Include:

 Jargon (combining real and made up words)

 Have good grammar and syntax
 Good intonation
 Impaired comprehension
 etc.