Brain functions are lateralized

Brain lateralization rfers to the idea that the right and left sides of the brain are specialized for certain skills. It represents a basic principle of the brain's organization. The division of labor between the right and left hemispheres is thought to allow for more complex behavior, although pop psychology overgeneralizes this idea to suggest that different people are defined as right- or left- brained based (like saying someone musically oriented is right-brained or someone who is a rational thinker is left-brained). While some research evidence does suggest that these generalizations are somewhat supported by brain activity measures, it does not mean that a certain thinking style lies solely within each hemisphere.

Despite the fact that lateralization is the division of tasks in the brain, there is not a complete separation into the left or right; both sides are almost always involved in any given task. The sides of the brain are in constant communication despite the existence of two distinct hemispheres. Any time you are using your left brain, your right brain is aware of what's going on. To see how connected the right and left brains are, try patting your head with one hand and rubbing your stomach with the other hand. Doing this is almost impossible because each side of the brain is sending a different message to each arm. As those messages conflict, we tend to end up either rubbing or patting, but not both at the same time.