292 - Left Brain, Right Brain

Left Brain, Right Brain
By Howard W. Stone

Parish pastor: "The trouble with you seminary professors is that you don't know what's going on in the parish. Your ivory-tower theology has little to do with the problems I encounter in my work. Six months as an assistant here and you'd teach something different. "

Seminary professor in a practical field: "The problem with so many of you in the classical fields is that you never make what you teach practical enough. What good is comparing Luther's and Barth's understanding of law and gospel? What we need is a theology that directly addresses the specific issues of ministry. We need a theology of death, of evangelism, of administration. You have to speak to the concrete realities of the parish. "

Seminary professor in a classical field: "What do I know about psychology, church growth, conflict management, or spiritual formation? I have enough trouble keeping up to date in my field, without also reading about psychotherapy or Christian education. You practical types are the ones to bridge the disciplines so that theology has an impact on practice. Otherwise students can just as well study what you teach at the university. "

I. CORRELATING THEOLOGY AND PRACTICE:
WHO OWNS THE PROBLEM?

A dictionary definition of "correlate" is "to bring into mutual relation with another."¹ Correlating theology with the practice of ministry allows the insights of theological thought to impinge upon, interact with, and influence the actual day-to-day tasks of ministry and vice versa. In other

Howard W. Stone is Professor of Pastoral Care and Psychology, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth. A graduate of Augsburg College, Lutheran (Philadelphia) Theological Seminary, and Claremont, he is the author of books and articles on pastoral theology and serves with Howard i. Clinebell in supervising "The Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling Series" (18 vols., Fortress Press).
¹ Webster's New World Dictionary, college ed. (1960)

293 - Left Brain, Right Brain

words, theological belief should make a difference in how pastoral care, religious education, or church administration is carried out. But encounters with people in the parish should correspondingly influence and interact with theology.

Although the above remarks of the parish pastor and seminary faculty members are fictitious, they are similar to real comments I have heard over the past few years. All are the thoughts of individuals vitally concerned about the impact of theology, biblical studies, ethics, or church history on the day-to-day events of parish life. While these characterizations are somewhat overstated and simplistic, they express what appears to be an inherent difficulty: that the responsibility for correlating theology and the practice of ministry is relegated to others (with attendant blame), and few people are seriously grappling with the task. Thus, we will assume a basic problem: the need for those in ministry, whether seminary or parish, to participate in the process of correlating theology and the practice of ministry.

Some individuals have begun to address the topic, but most of their work has focused on developing methods of correlation.² A more basic issue underlies any study of method, and that is the cognitive sets used to process data. The purpose of this essay is not to propose yet another method for correlation, but rather to focus on the two forms of mental organization that are required for any method of correlation to occur. These cognitive sets must be understood before any system of correlation can be enacted. In order to gain a better understanding of these two modes of knowing, we will draw heavily upon recent research on the function of the brain.

II. HEMISPHERIC PROCESSES OF THE BRAIN

Investigation of patients who, through illness or injury, have suffered damage to one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex provides information about the separate functions of each lobe.³ For example, damage to the

² For further information on the method of correlating theology and the practice of ministry, see Larry Graham, "Dimensions of Theological Interpretation in the Practice of Ministry," The Iliff Review 37: 3-11; Walter J. Lowe, "Method between Two Disciplines: The Therapeutic Analogy," The Journal of Pastoral Care 35 (September 1981): 147-156; John Patton, "Clinical Hermeneutics: Soft Focus in Pastoral Counseling and Theology," The Journal of Pastoral Care 35 (September 1981): 157-168; Robert A. Preston, "Hermaneutic Processes and Pastoral Care," Lexington Theological Quarterly 12 (October 1977): 128-136; Charles R. Stennette, Jr., "The Pastoral Ministry in Theological Perspective," Criterion 4 (Winter 1965): 3-9; and Herbert W. Stroup, Jr., "Psychology, Theology, and the Parish, or Where the Twain Do Meet," Dialog 16 (September 1977): 123-127.
³ Those who wish to read more extensively on the differences between the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex are referred to the following: J. E. Bogen, E. D. Fisher, and P. J. Vogel, "Cerebral Commissurotomy: A Second Case Report," Journal of the American Medical Association 194 (1965): 1328-1329; J. E. Bogen and M. S. Gazzaniga, "Cerebral Commissurotomy in Man: Minor Hemisphere Dominance for Certain Visuospatial Functions," Journal of Neurosurgery 23 (1965): 394-399; J. E. Bogen and P. J. Vogel, "Cerebral Commissurotomy in Man: Preliminary Case Report," Bulletin of Los Angeles Neurological Society 27 (1962): 169-172; Michael S. Gazzaniga, The Bisected

294 - Left Brain, Right Brain

left lobe causes individuals to have difficulty using language, and in some cases language can be totally lost. Damage to the right lobe, affecting language very little, precipitates great difficulties in spatial awareness, such as the recognition of faces. Although speech and logic appear unhindered, the ability to dress oneself may be greatly affected.

In addition to research on brain damaged individuals, the study of cerebral commissurotomy patients has contributed significant data on the different functions of these two lobes. This radical technique was developed to treat severe epileptics; the method surgically severs the two hemispheres so that they operate independently of each other. For many, the operation can greatly control seizures; in addition, the severing of the corpus callosum has allowed researchers to study the specialization of the cortex's two hemispheres.

Although most of the early research of interhemispheric commissures was performed on cats (and later on monkeys and chimpanzees), it was the study of human subjects who had undergone cortex-severing surgery that greatly advanced the knowledge of how differently the two lobes of the cerebral cortex function. Various kinds of experiments have been used to detect these divergencies.⁴ An example is the now classic type by Sperry in which words such as KEYCASE were flashed on a screen for 100 milliseconds or less. In a split brain patient's left visual field (that area to the left of the center point which the subject is viewing), only the letters KEY are seen; CASE appears only in the right visual field. Since the flashing of these words to split brain patients is at intervals too short for them to move their eyes, the letters KEY are presented only to the left eye, and thus the right hemisphere; and the word CASE only to the right eye, and thus the left hemisphere. (We must remember here that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and the right side of the brain the left side of the body.) When patients were asked what they saw, they reported only the word CASE. However, when Sperry asked them to place their left hands in an opaque bag filled with various objects and by touch alone retrieve the object they had just seen flashed on the screen, they removed a key.⁵ Gazzaniga comments on the results of such tests, as follows:

Brain (New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, 1970); Michael S. Gazzaniga, "Brain Mechanisms and Behavior," in Handbook of Psychobiology, eds. Gazzaniga and Colin Blakemore (New York: Academic Press, 1975): 565-590; Stevan Harnad et al., eds., Lateralization in the Nervous System (New York: Academic Press, 1977); Robert D. Nebes, "Direct Examination of Cognitive Function in the Right and Left Hemispheres," in Asymmetrical Function of the Brain, ed. Marcel Kinsbourne (London: Cambridge University Press, 1978): 99-137; M. C. Wittrock, "Education and the Cognitive Processes of the Brain" in Education and the Brain, Seventy-Seventh Yearbook, Part II, National Society for the Study of Education, eds. Jeanne S. Chall and Allan F. Minsky (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978): 61-102; M. C. Wittrock et al, The Human Brain (Englewood Cliffs: N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977)
⁴ For a history of recent brain research see especially Gazzaniga, "Brain Mechanism and Behavior": 565-573.
⁵ Roger W. Sperry, "Hemisphere Deconnection and Unity in Conscious Awareness," American Psychologist 23 (1968): 723-733.

295 - Left Brain, Right Brain

In brief, the thrust of this work demonstrates there is a sharp breakdown in communication between the hemispheres of visual, somato-sensory, motor, and cognitive information. Information presented to the left hemisphere was normally named and described while information presented to the right were nameless, and the left hemisphere was unable to say what the right hemisphere was seeing or doing…. The studies went on to show that there were suggestions of marked differences in the way the hemispheres processed information…. More recent work suggests the intriguing possibility that problems that can be solved by either mode are handled by quite different cognitive strategies as a function of which hemisphere works on the task.⁶

III. TWO MODES OF PROCESSING COGNITIVE DATA

The results of such studies help sketch a clearer picture of not only how the brain functions but also how human cognition works. The findings seem to indicate that each hemisphere thinks in fundamentally different ways, including each having its own memory. Each has different information processing rules which lead to different modes of knowing. Let us look more specifically at differences between the two lobes of the cerebral cortex before discussing the consequences of these two distinct methods of thinking.

For most individuals (98 per cent of all right-handed and about two-thirds of all left-handed persons), the left hemisphere of the brain processes information sequentially. It functions logically (although it can be illogical) and analytically. It compares, measures, analyzes, and judges. It names things-in fact language, both verbal and written, is a function of this hemisphere. Left brain creates time and works on a linear scale; it knows past and future.

Blakeslee provides a good illustration of the differences between left and right brain, referring to a conversation between two people:

The left brain generally responds to the literal meaning of the words it hears and will not even notice the meaning of inflection. The right brain perceives different aspects of the same conversation: tone of voice, facial expression, and body language are noticed while the words are relatively less important. This is a two-way process. The words are coming from the other person's left brain, and the tone of voice, facial expression, and body language are coming from his right brain. Thus, the conversation is going on simultaneously on two levels. In fact, when two people interact, they actually form two separate relationships: the memories and impressions formed by the left and right consciousnesses may be completely different.⁷

The right hemisphere processes body image and the body's orientation in space; it includes recognition of people by their physical features. As Blakeslee points out, it translates paralinguistic and body language. The right hemisphere processes information holistically rather than

⁶ Gazzaniga, "Brain Mechanism and Behavior": 567.
⁷ Thomas R. Blakeslee, The Right Brain: A New Understanding of the Unconscious Mind and Its Creative Powers (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, Doubleday, 1980); 28-29.

296 - Left Brain, Right Brain

sequentially. It receives and considers a large mass of information in a parallel way without separately considering each individual factor. It performs a synthetic-gestalt organization of sensory data such as is performed in the perception and interpretation of a painting or photograph.

Because of its parallel processing of information, the right hemisphere has been described as the center of intuition, imagination, and creativity. It appears that many scientific discoveries originate with a right brain "insight." Max Planck, an early investigator in quantum theory, believed a necessity for the creative scientist was "a vivid intuitive imagination for new ideas not generated by deduction, but by artistically creative imagination."⁸ Another researcher sums it up in this way:

The organization and processing of data by the right hemisphere is in terms of complex wholes, the minor hemisphere having a predisposition for receiving the total rather than the parts…. [It] probably provides the neural basis for our ability to take the fragmentary sensory information we receive and construct from it a coherent concept of the spatial organization of the outside world-a sort of cognitive spatial map by which we plan our actions.⁹

Each lobe of the cortex has the potential for many functions, and both participate in most activities, They work in a partnership to provide the total functioning of the person. Each hemisphere also has the ability to inhibit the other in order to solve a problem. In fact, since there frequently would be confusion if both hemispheres gave simultaneous readings of an event or problem, one or the other usually takes over. As Ornstein puts it:

How do these two modes interact in daily life? My opinion, and that of David Galin, is that in most ordinary activities we simply alternate between the two modes, selecting the appropriate one and inhibiting the other. It is not at all clear how this process occurs…. Clearly each of us can work in both modes-we all can move in space, we all can do both at once…. The two modes of operation complement each other, but do not readily substitute for one another.¹⁰

Discoveries about the differences between the two hemispheres of the cortex have been used to support all sorts of outlandish conclusions. Many have superimposed on the left or right lobe all that they think is wrong with other people. To some, the left brain has become the hemisphere of an "uptight" society with its preference for doing over being and thinking over feeling, with rigid military types and impersonal bureaucrats. The right brain, on the other hand, has become associated with the counter culture, with hippies and flower children, followers of

⁸ Ibid., 49
⁹ Robert D. Nebes, "Man's So-Called Minor Hemisphere," in The Human Brain, ed. M. C. Wittrock: 102,104.
¹⁰ Robert E. Ornstein, The Psychology of Consciousness (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, Co., 1972): 62.

297 - Left Brain, Right Brain

Eastern religions, artsy dilettantes; or with those warm, open folk who say wonderful things but hardly ever get anything done.

In truth, the so-called "clerk mentality"-rigidly and mechanically following procedures without question-is no more accurate as an example of the left-brain cognitive set than is the drifting and unproductive "dreamer" an example of the right-brain approach. Both distortions are equally irresponsible and are better described as no brain. The real promise of new learnings about right- and left-brain modes is not in excusing no-brain mentalities by giving them socially acceptable generic names, but in enabling individuals to make fuller use of the innate capacities of both of their hemispheres.

IV. IS LEFT OR RIGHT DOMINANCE PREDESTINED?

It appears that when most individuals reach adulthood they are predisposed to be dominated by one or the other hemisphere in their congitive functioning. (A majority are dominated by the left lobe.) It may be in the field of religious studies that certain disciplines-such as the Germanic schools of biblical criticism as well as other classic academic fields-tend to attract individuals who are dominated by left-brain cognitive processes. Such scholarship requires examination of minute details, splitting the whole into many pieces in order to complete a thorough sequential analysis. Classical fields of theology can and do use right-hemisphere cognitive functioning; but primarily they tend to rely on the left-hemisphere style of thinking.

On the other hand, some practical fields such as liturgics or pastoral care seem to draw individuals who have leanings toward the righthemisphere approach. In pastoral care, for example, listening, empathizing, offering warmth and openness, and "being with" is its forte. The words of a deeply troubled person cannot be split, parsed, and analyzed like a third century text. They must be heard as a whole. The carer's empathy and emotional closeness take over for analysis; words of comfort replace critical objectivity. While it cannot be denied that the left hemisphere functions in pastoral care, it would be to a lesser extent than in the classical fields of theology.

Is there indeed a hemispheric physiological predestination? The age-old environment versus heredity argument surfaces in recent studies on brain function. Although genetic structure cannot be ignored in understanding hemispheric dominance, most recent findings note that environment is quite significant. Bogen puts forward the position of most brain researchers when he states:

It is likely that some anatomical asymmetry underlies the potential for hemisphere specialization; but it is also clear that the extent to which the capacities are developed is dependent upon envrionmental exposure.¹¹

¹¹ Joseph Bogen, "Some Educational Implications of Hemispheric Specialization," in Wittrock, The Human Brain: 144-145.

298 - Left Brain, Right Brain

Artisan or accountant, biblical scholar or pastoral care specialist: individuals in various occupational groups cannot be differentiated by the pattern of their hemispheric cognitive processes (that is, they do not use totally different modes of thinking). Rather, these groups are distinguished by the degree to which they use (and possibly their ability to use) the cognitive functions of one or the other hemisphere. Thus, although most adults have a hemispheric predisposition, it is primarily a learned one. The powerful influence of environment must be given its due.

V. CONDITIONS LEADING TO BILATERAL COGNITION

Since our hemispheric predispositions are not only genetic but also to a great extent learned, it seems reasonable to assume that a change in environmental conditions could lead to the possibility of change in our style of cognitive functioning. To some degree we may have to live with a tendency toward either the right- or left-hemisphere style of information encoding. But it is possible to create conditions within our environments and schedules whereby the fullest possible use is made of all our cognitive capacities.

Kinsbourne hypothesizes that the development of cerebral hemispheric proclivity evolves by increases in proficiency and, in each hemisphere, learning to give attention to contralateral stimuli.¹² In several studies undertaken to verify this thesis, it was observed that giving the left lobe a verbal task reduced the left eye field superiority for recognizing faces; additionally, presenting a face recognition problem to the right lobe reduced the' right field visual superiority for words.¹³ Therefore, one way to counteract a tendency for, left-hemispheric dominance is to "prime" the right hemisphere's "pump" by looking at pictures or listening to music. Likewise, for the right-hemisphere dominant person, reading a book or listening to a lecture will set the stage for left hemisphere activity. In such a way one can momentarily lessen the dominance of one side of the brain and allow greater freedom for the other to apply itself cognitively (with its own separate data encoding system) to a problem.

Consequently, we may suggest that a key to effective correlation of theology and the practice of ministry is to set up the conditions that lead

¹² Marcel Kinsbourne, "Cerebral Dominance, Learning, and Cognition," in Progress in Learning Disabilities, Vol. 3, ed. Helmerr Myklebust (New York: Grune & Stratton, 1975): 201-218; and Kinsbourne, "The Control of Attention by Interaction Between the Cerebral Hemispheres," in Attention and Performance, Vol. 4, ed. Sylvan Kornblum (New York: Academic Press, 1973): 239-256, also, Kinsbourne, "The Mechanism of Hemispheric Control of the Lateral Gradient of Attention," in Attention and Performance, Vol. 5, ed. Patrick M. A. Rabbitt and Stanislav Dornic (New York: Academic Press, 1975): 81-97
¹³ Danny Klein, Morris Moscovitch, and Carlo Vigna, "Attention Mechanisms and Perceptual Asymmetries in Tachistoscopic Recognition of Words and Faces," in Neuropsychologia 14 (1976): 55-66.

299 - Left Brain, Right Brain

to facility in both right- and left-brain processes, or bilateral conditions. The goal will be to permit each hemisphere to handle those particular data processing situations most suited to its style rather than allowing one or the other hemisphere to dominate most of the time. This is especially important since the lobe that is dominant inhibits the function of the other, and when one side is "running the show," the other (which is superior in its own type of information processing) is suppressed. Bilateral cognition leads to more comprehensive thought since it allows each hemisphere to think in the manner for which it was designed.

One way to understand bilateral cognition is to look at Wallas' older but perceptive outline of the process of creative thinking." 14 Wallas describes four stages of creative thought: preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. During preparation relevant information is collected and the problem is narrowed until the issues that must be dealt with are in focus. In the incubation stage, out-of-conscious forces work on the problem; although the individual periodically concentrates on it for short stretches of time, there can be no movement toward resolution. It is a time of germination when nothing appears to be happening. Illumination occurs spontaneously or as a consequence of a conscious undertaking. Here the intuitive functioning of the brain is at work, and frequently the results occur instantaneously rather than as a result of a series of logical steps. Finally, the verification stage requires logical validation of intuitive discoveries and the construction of an organized method for presenting the results.

Clearly it can be seen that left-lobe cognitive functioning is required in preparation and verification, while the right lobe will dominate during incubation and illumination. Cooperative functioning of the left and right brain is apparent in the example of the writing process. After completing library research for a book or article and reviewing various conflicting publications on the subject, the writer does best to let the project sit for some period of time without pressuring for results or a detailed outline. Then--during sleep, the long drive to work, a choir anthem, or even a class lecture-the thesis may come in a flash. That burst of enlightenment must be listened to and trusted. Soon after it occurs the author takes pen and paper (or keyboard and word processor) and puts the insight into written form.

VI. CORRELATING THEOLOGY AND THE PRACTICE OF MINISTRY

The crucial significance of split-brain research for correlating theology and the practice of ministry is not the functional difference between the two hemispheres but the different cognitive ways data are processed. For one's theology to have an impact on ministerial practice (and vice versa) both sides of the brain are required, The process of

¹⁴ Graham Wallas, The Art of Thought (London: Butler and Tanner, 1926).

300 - Left Brain, Right Brain

correlation involves a back and forth movement between the cognitive processing systems of each hemisphere. In pastoral care, for example, the left-hemispheric task of preparation is required to help the minister understand basic theological dogma; the systematic analysis and sequential thinking of this lobe form categories and draw systems of beliefs from Scripture and the tradition of the church. The righ-hemispheric tasks of incubation and illumination allow the richness of personal experience, as it is told to the pastor in counseling, to exist side by side with theological constructs. Since the right lobe processes data in a parallel manner, a wide variety of seemingly dissonant information can be processed at the same time. The "genius" of the right hemisphere is its ability cognitively to absorb such things as the deep pain expressed by an individual or a theological theme in such a manner as to give meaning to them. The left-hemisphere verification stage of cognition is required to help put these right hemisphere insights into words. The parishioner then understands what is experienced. It is also important for the minister. Unless the right hemisphere's output is cycled back and reintroduced to the theological constructs, theological belief systems will become arid because they are only sequentially developed and devoid of the richness of parallel-processed experience. The danger in ministry is to venerate either left- or right-hemisphere encoding strategies, and not to allow bilateral congnitive processing.

The structuring of stages which require both lateral functions of the brain can allow for a dialogical flow of insights between the theological and the practice of ministry. Individuals who find themselves more prone to left-hemisphere modes of information processing will need to stop-the incessant analyzing that paralyzes and stifles creativity. They must be receptive to insights that arrive while they are not overtly working on a problem. And they need to trust and nurture these solutions. Doing things like listening to music, gardening, meditating, walking, or some "mindless" undertaking like turning the crank of a mimeograph machine, inhibits left brain activity and allows the right hemisphere to process information. Structuring one's schedule to include such right-hemisphere "pump priming" activities will enhance right-brain functioning. And, when the insight comes, frequently it will be in a flash and must not be lost. Inspiration can occur in several ways, such as a visual image, memory, or a burst of ideas, During a pastoral care visit, it may arrive as a mental picture or as a parable or story from Scripture bubbling to the surface of one's consciousness.

On the other side, those whose bias is toward right-brain functioning will be able to include the benefits of left-hemisphere cognition by balancing their approach with disciplined scholarship (preparation) and with logical, measurable verification of insights. Individuals who are heavily involved in pastoral care frequently fail to give adequate attention to the preparation stage; in fact it is sometimes pejoratively labeled "head level" or "mind fornicating." As a result, theological constructs have little or no effect on the pastoral care offered. This is

301 - Left Brain, Right Brain

especially true in the case of eductive care, which only draws from people's own experiences the bases for theological beliefs and ethical decisions." To assist in the left-brain preparation stage, the pump can be primed by daily reading of Scripture and theology that activates the left hemisphere. Likewise, some may neglect the crucial verification stage. In this regard a method that encourages left-hemisphere activity is to put one's insights in written form. The experiences of ministry are raw material for theological formulation, but only if the pastoral carer takes time-if necessary, scheduled and rigorously observed-to articulate and test insights gained from the caring experience and then share them with others who might profit from them.

VII. LEFT BRAIN, RIGHT BRAIN, NO BRAIN

Recent research into the functioning of the cerebral cortex has been described which reveals that we think in two distinct ways. These cognitive sets-one processing data sequentially and the other in a parallel, holistic manner-will both be required if an effective correlation of theology and the practice of ministry is to occur. Creating an environment and structuring one's schedule in such a way that both leftand right-hemisphere styles of processing are nourished (and no-brain approaches go unrewarded) can only enhance the impact of theology upon ministry. What is more, our day-to-day experiences of ministry, regardless of where we encounter them, will thus be encouraged to inform and shape our theology.

¹⁵ Howard Stone, "Pastoral Care in the 1980's: A Call For Its Return to Christian Roots," Religion in Life 49 (Fall 1980): 349-359.