Brain Asymmetry Experiment

Brain Asymmetry Experiment

The brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left and right hemispheres. However, each hemisphere has specialized functions and controls different cognitive processes. Available evidence argues that the levels of motor control and imagination are influenced by differences in the brain regions based on brain asymmetry (Bobrova et al., 2021). The brain’s abilities to manage these functions vary across individuals and can be defined based on the degree of right-handedness. An experiment was carried out using CogLab 2.0. to determine if a difference existed in brain activity and perception based on brain asymmetry. Top of Form

Literature Review

The differences in how people perceive things, imagine things, and control certain thought processes have been a topic of interest in neurology, psychology, and general medicine. A substantial body of evidence relates these differences to the brain’s hemispheric asymmetries and the differences in hemispheric functions. A study by Lee et al. (2022) investigated the changes in microstructural variations in white matter (WM) between patients with bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms (BPD) and bipolar disorder without psychotic symptoms (NPBD). With a focus on WM areas of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusion (MD) across the BPD and NPBD patients and a healthy control (HC) group, Lee et al. (2022) found notable differences in microstructural WM abnormalities across these patients and the HC. In the study, Lee et al. (2022) found that the PBD and NPBD had either a decrease or an FA or MD as compared to the HC. PBD patients had significantly reduced FA in the corpus callosum, as well as the bilateral internal capsule and fornix., while the FA was localized in NPBD patients mostly on the left cerebral hemisphere, showing hemispheric functional differences.

In a different study, Levenberg et al. (2023), based on the systematic review of evidence on functional asymmetry and brain-heart interactions, proved that functional hemispheric differences influenced how the brain interacted with the heart. The differences in the connection across the brain hemispheres influenced the heart’s functionality as well as other biobehavioral aspects of an individual. Levenberg et al. (2023), with a focus on patients with bipolar disorder, proved how functional hemispheric differences could risk the development of cardiac issues in such patients.

Methods

This experiment was designed in accordance with the ethical requirements in psychology and the guidelines of CogLab 2.0.

Participants

Two male participants between the ages of 27 and 30 were selected for the experiment. The main participant was a right-handed male participant aged 28 years old, while the other left-handed male was selected as the control group. The mental health of both participants was assessed before the study was conducted.

Equipment/Apparatus

The experiment was conducted using the CogLab 2.0 software. The software was ran on a 23″ display panel desktop computer.

Procedure

The participants were first given information about the experiment and signed their consent forms. On a desktop computer with a wide display and an unattached keyboard, the CogLab 2.0 software was launched.. Before beginning the experiment, each participant was requested to indicate their handedness using the CogLab 2.0 software. To begin each trial, the participant needed to click on the [Space bar]. As the independent variable, a chimera face was created by combining two copies of the same image but with varying quality. The participant pressed keys [i] and [k] to select the face they preferred as the youngest. A total of 3 test runs with 14 trials done by each individual.

Results

The experiment results demonstrate that the right-handed participants selected the youngest face to be on the left at an average of 85.71429 percent of the selections made (see Table 1 and Table 2 below). The left-handed participant made 64.28571 percent of the youngest face selections on the left (see Table 3 and Table 4 below). The selections show a 21.42858 percent difference between right-handed and left-handed options on the choosing of the perceived youngest face to be on the left.

Right-Handed Participant Results

Table 1:  Right-handed Test 1 results

Table 2: Data Summary Test 1

Left-Handed Participant Results

Table 3: Left-handed Test 2 results

Table 4: Data Summary Test 2

Discussion

The differences in the pick of the youngest face on the left among the right-handed and left-handed individuals indicate the differences in perception and processing abilities between the two individuals. The right-handed participant shows that the right brain hemisphere is usually used for cognitive processes involving passing judgment. On the other hand, the results from the left-handed participant indicate that although the right brain hemisphere is predominant in making judgments, these hemispheric functions may rely on the connection between the left and the right hemisphereThe experiment’s findings support the hypothesis that brain asymmetry causes differences in brain activity and perception.

Conclusion

In conclusion, functional hemispheric differences exist across individuals. Each brain hemisphere has specialized functions, and these function hemispheric differences influence handedness, perception, and judgment. However, various factors should be considered when drawing such conclusions, as various factors influence hemispheric functions. For instance, Bremner et al. (2020) note that mental health status influences brain function, while a study by Pascalis (2022) shows differences in brain asymmetry related to held notions, individual behaviors, cultural beliefs, and clinical health factors. Regardless, based on the results of the left-handed participant, the brain hemisphere functions such as perception and judgment are not exclusive to one hemisphere.

References

Bobrova, E. V., Reshetnikova, V. V., Vershinina, E. A., Grishin, A. A., Bobrov, P. D., Frolov, A. A., & Gerasimenko, Y. P. (2021). The success of Hand Movement Imagination Depends on Personality Traits, Brain Asymmetry, and Degree of Handedness. Brain Sciences 2021, Vol. 11, Page 853, 11(7), 853. https://doi.org/10.3390/BRAINSCI11070853

Bremner, J. D., Moazzami, K., Wittbrodt, M. T., Nye, J. A., Lima, B. B., Gillespie, C. F., Rapaport, M. H., Pearce, B. D., Shah, A. J., & Vaccarino, V. (2020). Diet, Stress and Mental Health. Nutrients 2020, Vol. 12, Page 2428, 12(8), 2428. https://doi.org/10.3390/NU12082428

Lee, D. K., Lee, H., Ryu, V., Kim, S. W., & Ryu, S. (2022). Different patterns of white matter microstructural alterations between psychotic and non-psychotic bipolar disorder. PLOS ONE, 17(3), e0265671. https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0265671

Levenberg, K., Critchley, H. D., & Lane, R. D. (2023). Understanding the mechanisms of sudden cardiac death in bipolar disorder: Functional asymmetry in brain-heart interactions as a potential culprit. Medical Hypotheses, 170, 110986. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.MEHY.2022.110986

Pascalis, V. De. (2022). Special Issue of Symmetry: “ Biological Psychology: Brain Asymmetry and Behavioral Brain” Symmetry 2022, Vol. 14, Page 1531, 14(8), 1531. https://doi.org/10.3390/SYM14081531

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In Week 1, you began by choosing an experiment to complete. Over the last several weeks, you have been working on your project in preparation for this week’s work.

Brain Asymmetry Experiment

The four (4) graded assignments you completed during this course provided a guide and acted as a progress check to improve your final project. Graded assignments included the following: Week 3: Literature Review; Week 6: Methods; Week 7: Results; and Week 9: Discussion & Conclusion.

Your project should adhere to the following guidelines:

The main sections should have the following:

A title page
An abstract (not more than 250 words)
An introduction
A literature review
Methods
Results
Discussion & Conclusion
References