The Right Mind: Making Sense of the Hemispheres

by Robert Ornstein

“While the brain’s two hemispheres indeed have different strengths, the dichotomy that is usually depicted is a gross overstatement. Instead, contends Ornstein, the hemispheres complement one another, and well-adjusted people need to utilize both. In an extended metaphor, Ornstein argues that the left hemisphere helps us understand the text of our lives while the right provides the context. Both are crucial: ‘”Bear right!” means something different in the woods than in the suburbs.’ By relating snippets of case studies in an attempt to demonstrate how the brain functions, Ornstein’s work resembles that of Oliver Sacks, especially when discussing how language is processed and misprocessed.” —Publishers Weekly