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 our conscience, 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).
- Creative area ----- "I want to hit the ball in the right field"
- Inhibition area -----"I better not hit a foul ball"
- Premotor area ---- Remembers how to swing a bat through practice
- Motor area ------- Sends impulses down to
the arm muscles
- 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...
- Fluid, graceful, cat-like motion.
- Good balance
- 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,
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