I will never discourage people from expressing interest in the brain but if you’re going to do so, at least attempt some legitimacy. I like to believe that a click-baity Facebook quiz that claims to approximate hemispheric dominance is blatantly not science to even the most casual observer. In fact, of the many people on my newsfeed that I’ve seen sharing these results {“Oh look, I’m 35% left brain, which means I’m confirming that I always knew I was more creative/emotional!”} most seem to at least post with some caveat {“Not sure how accurate this is but still interesting!”}. In this case, a BS in science trumps bs’ing science so sit down and let me tell you things {note: I actually have a BA in Neuro because liberal arts school but the phrase seemed clever so just go with it please}.
Since humans tend to have a limited attention span, I’m going to break this topic into a few different posts. I think it’s valuable to examine multiple angles and give due diligence to each but part of the issue is that people like bite-sized, easily digestible content. Why am I wasting my time on some just-for-fun Facebook quiz? Well, because it’s a really good jumping off point to touch on multiple topics like how to deal with pseudoscience, the importance and troubles of psychometrics, and what the whole left brain/right brain deal is anyways. So in lieu of one hefty post, you’ll get at least two smaller ones. This first post is going to focus on why this left/right brain dominance quiz is an example of pseudoscience and how to think like a scientist, even if you aren’t one. I’ll make a skeptic of you yet….
How to Approach Dubious Claims
I want to teach others how to combat pseudoscience and think critically about claims so we’re going to explore that first. I can tell you right now that sites behind the left/ right brain ones put out others {Who Secretly Has A Crush on You? Who Were You in a Past Life? What Color is Your Aura? What Kind of Mythical Creature [That Isn’t a Succubus Because We have No Creativity] Are You?} with about as much regard for scientific accuracy. The truth behind you being 50/50 left brain/right brain as dictated by that quiz is about as accurate as you being Napoleon in a past life. Only this one quiz is masquerading as having some sort of scientific basis because we all know brains have two halves and stuff, right?
Before we jump in too far, I want to keep context in mind and briefly answer the pressing question of “but do the hemispheres do different things?”. Yes, different parts of the brain are specialized for different functions but this is not new. Your frontal lobe and occipital lobe both occupy roughly equal space in both hemispheres but have vastly different functions. While I’ll explore hemispheric specialization in more depth in following posts, yes, there are some functions a particular area in one hemisphere is mostly responsible for. However, there is no one “language” area since it’s a complex process that requires communication between multiple parts of your brain. This article from McGill University’s website gives an example of such areas and does a pretty good job of going more in depth about left brain/right brain stuff if you’re too antsy to wait for the other posts.
The version of this quiz I linked to above {and again here} states before you start that “the idea of delineation of tasks between the left and right brain is not just an idea that people have thrown around- it’s backed up by scientific proof. American neuropsychologist Roger Sperry won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his work in split-brain research. Want to know which side of your brain, left or right, is more dominant and by how much? Take this test to get the most accurate results.” Let’s do some dissecting and break this entire trainwreck of a paragraph down…by color!
A. Hokay. First rule of science is that nothing is ever proven, hypotheses are just supported {or not} by the data. If ever you encounter something that claims “scientific proof,” little skeptical alarms should go off in your head right away. Undergrads are conditioned to be so averse to the term “proof” that it makes us instantly wary because boy, have many of us lost valuable points on a paper for using inherently inaccurate terminology. That sticks with you.
B. Split-brain sounds scientific and relevant, Nobel Prize in Physiology in Medicine…well, that’s about as legitimate as you get. Roger Sperry’s prize was based on work with patients who had the main link between the hemispheres severed {if you’re curious, it was a method of treating epilepsy}. Thus, they could observe how each side functioned more or less independent of the other, hence the “split brain” bit.
If you bother to read what his work was about, you’ll see that they mostly observed how the brain functions differently when the two hemispheres can no longer communicate effectively. Interestingly enough, when you split the two halves, people actually tend to react the same way when given the same tasks. Chew on that for a second if you wish but I digress {hint: if there were any weight to being “dominant” in one hemisphere, you’d probably expect to see split brain people vary drastically in terms of performance on cognitive tasks, no?}.
Sperry himself even said “experimentally observed polarity in right-left cognitive style is an idea in general with which it is very easy to run wild… it is important to remember that the two hemispheres in the normal intact brain tend regularly to function closely together as a unit” in one of his papers. So. You know. Using an appeal to authority to give yourself validity is cool and all except when there are more updated sources and also your person specifically cautions against taking his work out of context.
C. More dominant? What? How is this quantified? Brain activity? Because I don’t see this quiz offering to use ANY physiological metrics. Can your answers tell us which part of your brain activates more often? Sure, perhaps, on a well-calibrated test which I don’t think the people who made this quiz had the ability to develop fully. Notice how “dominant” is not defined, nor is it a particularly meaningful term when you think about it in context and how it relates the the test. The “and by how much” bit also lends support to the illusion of science {because, ya know, quantification} but offers no real answers as to how this is done. In the face of pseudoscience, ask yourself “HOW is this thing doing what it claims? What concrete measures are used?” and I’m sure you can come up with many other examples. Fly free, question EVERYTHING! Even the links I’ve included, question that. Science is pretty imperfect so you need to form your own opinions.
D. One question: “most accurate” as compared to what? We don’t even know how this thing is being measured so like accuracy is meaningless as there is no established basis of comparison. UGH. Is it more accurate than a magic 8-ball? Is it the most accurate quiz out there? C’mon, substantiate your claims, mysterious authors of this quiz.
Anyways. Perhaps this seems like it doesn’t apply to you. Perhaps you scoff at stupid clickbait. Perhaps you’re not so foolish as to believe everything you read. But here’s the thing: being able to think critically applies to even the most accepted scientific theories. Nothing is proven, thus there is always a need to continue questioning, refining, asking questions, and seeking answers. Science progresses because people question what seems obvious. Perhaps you think this entire exercise was pointless. Perhaps you’re wondering what I have against fun. Believe what you’d like, that’s fine, just don’t call unsubstantiated claims science. And if you REALLY want to learn things, if you actually give a crap about brains, I want you to know it’s not that hard to find decent answers to complex questions. That’s…what I’m trying to do.
So. Rip me apart, sing my praises, ask questions, call me on my crap. There will be at least one follow-up post centered around this quiz, which….it’s not so much about the quiz itself and more about a common misconception about neuroscience and how that culturally manifests and stuff and things and I don’t know, leave me alone, I’m tired. Nothing I’ve linked to in this post was created by me, nor do I own it, nor do I claim to, though a Nobel Prize would be pretty rad. Stay tuned for Part 2, also known as “wow, this quiz REALLY sucks from a psychological testing standpoint and oh by the way IQ doesn’t matter much.”
NeuroTopical 