Hemisphere Dominancy - Hemispheric Lateralization

What doe's it mean?

A picture comes from http://www.lefthandersday.com/

Coordination of hearing - vision - kinesthetic movement

How to observe predominance (out of 10 tries):

1. Leg:
• kick a ball
• first step walking upstairs/downstairs
2. Hand:
• holding utensils
• holding marker/ pen/ pencil
• playing with toys, e.g. pushing car, hitting with hummer
3. Eye:
• looking into kaleidoscope
• looking through whole (paper 25x15cm with whole in the center)
4. Ear:
• turning head to an unexpected source of sound
• listening to whisper

A picture comes from http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2008/05/dual-mind-which-part-of-your-mind.html

What hemispheric lateralization tells us about?

The two hemispheres of the brain are specialized to perform certain tasks ("lateralization".) Language is localized in the left hemisphere, specifically Broca's and Wernicke's areas. Facial recognition is localized in the right hemisphere, specifically the fusiform gyrus.  Summarizing, the right brain is dominant for spatial abilities, face recognition, visual imagery and music. The left brain may be more dominant for calculations, math and logical abilities. The right side of the brain controls muscles on the left side of the body and the left side of the brain controls muscles on the right side of the body. Also, in general, sensory information from the left side of the body crosses over to the right side of the brain and information from the right side of the body crosses over to the left side of the brain. Therefore, damage to one side of the brain will affect the opposite side of the body. Most individuals show a preference toward using a dominant hand, eye and leg. The idea behind it is that left-brained people need to "develop" more "right-brain thinking" and vice-versa to take full advantage of the brain's capacity and to be more successful.

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/split.html

Exercises to support hemispheric lateralization 

A picture comes from http://havefunwithpsychology.com/

Look for Veronica Sherborne exercises. This approach is based on the philosophy and theory of human movement created by Rudolf Laban (pioneer and founder of Modern European movement analysis) http://www.sherbornemovementuk.org/about-sherborne-developmental-movement.html

The parent will:

• build child’s self-esteem
• make child feel successful
• prompt child to finish activity

The child will:

• draw on lines (vertical up to down, horizontal in reading direction)
• copy after model
• assemble puzzle picture base on picture
• work on sound discrimination
• repeat rhythm/ music after a model
• look for differences in pictures
• play picture domino