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Visual Creativity & Brain Lateralization Bibliography



Compiled by Amy Andres, August 2003. E-mail: aandres@csustan.edu. Updated 28 April 2005.

In 1836, a country doctor by the name of Marc Dax presented a paper at a medical meeting in Montpellier, France. Dax had treated many patients who suffered loss of speech after sustaining some trauma to the brain. While this observation was not new to the medical world, Dax did note in his paper that there seemed to be a correlation between the loss of speech and the side of the brain where the trauma had been inflicted. He summarized that the separate halves of the brain control different functions. While the paper did not receive much positive attention, it did predicate the rush of scientific activity dedicated to right-brain/left-brain functions in the latter half of the twentieth century (Springer & Deutsch, 1989, pp. 1-2).

Scientific evidence now confirms that the left and right hemispheres of the brain play distinct roles in thinking, perception, feeling, and memory. In the mid-twentieth century, it was understood that the left hemisphere was directly related to functions of language; while the right hemisphere played a more important role in spatial tasks and making sensory discriminations such as the recognition of faces or the detection of unfamiliar tactile patterns (Gardner, 1982, p.283). Further investigations into brain lateralization began to reveal a greater understanding of how an individual brain develops and implements visual creativity. Researchers discovered that the brains’ cerebral hemispheres dictate how an individual perceives color, pattern, perspective, shape, texture, and the relationship between light and shadow. Visual creativity, however, has not yet been conclusively localized in the brain (Gardner, 1982, p. 284). Evidence suggests that both hemispheres contribute to visual creativity but each in its own way. For example, to draw a realistic depiction of an object, one needs the right hemisphere for contour but the left hemisphere for details. Neuroscientists have continued their research in earnest, arguing and reconciling their findings about the functions of each hemisphere and their contribution to visual creativity.

The following bibliography features books, journal articles, studies, conference proceedings, instruments, dissertations and theses that have been published on how the brains’ hemispheres contribute functionally to visual creativity. While the focus of this bibliography is visual creativity, it was decided not to exclude documents that contain discussion of all forms of creative output including analytic, audio, and verbal.

The materials selected for this bibliography fall into six major areas of relevancy that support research on the relationship between visual creativity and brain lateralization. The literature included in these areas provides a range of information whether the researcher may is a novice to the field or an experienced practitioner of science or psychology. The major areas and their key documents (listed in chronological order) are:

Brain neurology: General theories and explanations (Sperry & Colwyn, 1990; Churchland, 1995)

Theories of creativity (Arieti, 1976; Elliott, 1986; Weisberg, 1986; Simonton, 1999; Pfenninger & Shubik, 2001)



Brain dominance (Sperry, Gazzaniga, & Bogen, 1969; Cassel, 1978; Springer & Deutsch, 1989; Rotenberg, 1993; Gazzaniga, 1998)



How the brain perceives the visual arts (Thomas & Thomas, 1983; Gross, 1998; Zeki, 1999)

Case studies related to brain dominance (Petrov, 1996, 1998; Fraser, 1998; Zeki, 2002)

Sources directly linking brain function to visual creativity (Bogen & Bogen, 1969; Garret, 1976; Hraber, 1976; McCallum & Glynn, 1979; Timmckel, 1979; Dusa, 1983; Katz, 1983, 1986, 1997; Hermann, 1988, 1992; Hoppe, 1988; Harpaz, 1990; Hellige, 1993; Rotenberg, 1993; Baer, 1998; Carlsson, Wendt, & Risberg, 2000; Diakidoy & Spanoudis, 2002; Weinstein & Graves, 2002)

There is an abundance of literature that explores the ramifications for educators in terms of understanding the relationship between creativity and individual learning style. Unless otherwise stated in the annotation, this bibliography excludes those materials as they fall outside the defined scope. Researchers interested in pursuing this field of interest will have little difficulty locating material through a search of the ERIC or PsychINFO indices.

This bibliography lists a broad selection of publications from 1965 to the present, providing the researcher with a general historiography, recent literature, and identification of key resources most relevant to the study of visual creativity and the brain. Non-English materials have been selected based on the frequency of their citation in books and journal articles.

Works Cited Above

Gardner, H. (1982). Art, mind, and brain: A cognitive approach to creativity. New York: Basic Books.

Springer, S.P., & Deutsch, G. (1989). Left brain, right brain. San Francisco: Freeman.

Books



Annett, M. (2002). Handedness and brain asymmetry: The right shift theory. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Summary: Annett seeks to explain the relationships between left and right-handedness and left and right-brain specialization. Her Right Shift theory proposes that handedness in humans depends on chance but that chance is weighted towards right-handedness in most people by an agent of right-hemisphere disadvantage. It argues for the existence of a single gene for right shift that evolved in humans to aid the growth of speech in the left hemisphere of the brain.
Arbib, M. A., & Hanson, A.R. (1987). Vision, brain, and cooperative computation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Summary: Papers presented at the Vision, Brain, and Cooperative Computation Workshop, held at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in May 1983. The book covers current theories of visual information processing in humans and other animals. Includes bibliographies and index.

Arieti, S. (1976). Creativity: The magic synthesis. New York: Basic Books.

Summary: A study of the psychodynamic and socio-dynamic factors that enter into the creative process. Chapters: The creative process; The major theories of creativity; Imagery; Amorphous cognition; Primitive cognition; Conceptual cognition; Creativity in wit; Poetry and the aesthetic process; Painting and music; Religion and mystical experiences; Science; Society, culture, and creativity; The creative person; The cultivation of creativity in the individual; The neurology of creativity and biological creativity.


Arnheim, R. (1974). Art and visual perception: A psychology of the creative eye (Rev. ed). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Summary: Arnheim investigates the relation between psychology and art based on the Gestalt theory.


Benson, D.F., & Zaidel, E. (Eds.). (1985). The dual brain: Hemispheric specialization in humans. New York: Guilford Press.
Summary: Congress of papers discussing hemispheric specialization presented as part of the UCLA Medical Forum Series. Papers are divided into biological, psychological, and clinical themes.


Bradshaw, J.L. (1989). Hemispheric specialization and psychological function. Oxford, England: John Wiley and Sons.
Summary: This book which draws extensively from comparative psychology, neurology, clinical and experimental neuropsychology, and paleoanthropology, begins with an overview, then covers the three major sources of evidence for human lateralization: (1) Clinical studies of patients with unilateral injury; (2) the effects of testing one or other cerebral hemisphere when disconnected from its fellow by commissurotomy; and (3) Studies with normals.


Churchland P. (1995). The engine of reason, the seat of the soul: A philosophical journey into the brain. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Summary: This book provides a straightforward look at artificial intelligence, brain neurology, cognitive psychology, ethnology, epistemology, scientific method, and ethics and aesthetics. Filled with examples and illustrations.


Dacey, J. S., & Lennon, K.H. (1998). Understanding creativity: The interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Summary: The authors offer an examination of the three factors (biological, psychological, and social) that contribute to the creative process. This book explores a variety of topics on creativity, including (1) how creative people operate as successful and imaginative problem solvers, (2) the essential role self-control plays in realizing creative potential, and (3) the most current discoveries about how the brain works on the neuronal and chemical levels.


Damasio, A. (1999). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Summary: Provides a neurologist’ perspective on the nature of consciousness. Damasio offers his theories of the existence of two levels of consciousness: a core consciousness and self, an extended consciousness. He then argues the crucial roles emotion, memory, and "wordless storytelling" play in human existence. Damasio concludes that consciousness provides human being with the ability to experience that both pain and pleasure as well as expressing feelings through language and creativity. Individuals suffering from neurological disorders are presented as case studies.


Edwards, B. (1989). Drawing on the right side of the brain: A course in enhancing creativity and artistic confidence. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Perigee.
Summary: Drawing-instruction book that includes research on brain laterality.


Edwards, B. (1999). The new drawing on the right side of the brain (Rev. ed.). Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Perigee.
Summary: A revised and expanded edition of the drawing-instruction book by Dr. Betty Edwards.


Fiore, S. M., & Schooler, J.W. (1998). Right hemisphere contributions to creative problem solving: Converging evidence for divergent thinking. In M. Beeman and C. Chiarello (Eds.), Right hemisphere language comprehension: Perspectives from cognitive neuroscience (pp. 349-371). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Summary: This chapter reviews evidence that suggests that at least one component of creative human behavior may have some association with right hemisphere brain function.


Gardner, H. (1982). Art, mind, and brain: A cognitive approach to creativity. New York: Basic Books.
Summary: Gardner explores various aspects of creativity from a child's ability to learn a new song through Mozart's conceiving a complete symphony; from the implications for creativity of studies of the brain to the effects of television on a child's imagination.


Gross, C. G. (1998). Brain, vision, memor : Tales in the history of neuroscience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Summary of contents: From Imhotep to Hubel and Weisel: the story of visual cortex. Ancient Egyptian surgery and medicine ; Greek philosopher-scientists and the beginning of brain science; The medieval cell doctrine of brain function; The rebirth of brain science ; The beginning of the modern era of cortical localization ; The discovery of a visual center in the cerebral cortex -- Leonardo da Vinci on the brain and eye -- Emanuel Swedenborg: a neuroscientist before his time -- The hippocampus minor and man's place in nature: a case study in the social construction of neuroanatomy -- Beyond striate cortex: how large portions of the temporal and parietal cortex became visual areas.



Heilman, K.M. (2005). Creativity and the brain. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
This book addresses the relationships between creativity, psychology, and neuropsychology. It is written from an academic perspective but the writing style is suitable for a non-specialist audience. Heilman is extensively published in the field of neurology and currently holds the The James E. Rooks Jr. Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the College of Medicine, University of Florida.
Hellige, J.B. (1993). Hemispheric asymmetry: What’s right and what’s left. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Summary: This book reviews the cerebral hemispheric asymmetry research conducted in the late 80s and early 90s, placing it in context with earlier theory and data. It reviews biological asymmetry, behavioral asymmetry, interhemispheric interaction, and the evolution of hemispheric asymmetry.


Hentschel, U., & Schneider, U. (1986). Psychodynamic personality correlates of creativity. In U. Hentschel, G.J.W. Smith, & J.G. Draguns (Eds.), The roots of perception (pp.249-275). Amsterdam: North-Holland.

Herrmann, N. (1988). The creative brain. Lake Lure, NC: Brain Books.
Summary: Ned Herrmann conducted studies on the thinking styles of various groups of people with different areas of brain dominance. As a result of these studies he arrived at a circular model of the brain divided into four quadrants. Each of the four quadrants represents a thinking mode such as analyze, personalize, organize, and strategize. His theory is a departure from the traditional right brain/left brain theories.


Herrmann, N., & Bièque, M. (1992). Les dominances cérébrales et la créativité. Paris: Retz.

Hoppe, K.D. (1988). Hemispheric specialization. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders.
Summary: Papers presented at a symposium entitled: ‘Hemispheric Specialization, Affect, and Creativity’ held at the 140th annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Chicago. Includes bibliographical references and index.


Katz, A.N. (1997). Creativity and the cerebral hemispheres. In M.A Runco (Ed.), The creativity research handbook (Vol. 1, pp. 203-226). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Kosslyn, S. M. (1994). Image and brain: The resolution of the imagery debate. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Summary: Kosslyn presents research on the nature of high-level vision and mental imagery. He combines ideas and empirical results from computer vision, neurobiology, and cognitive science to develop a general theory of visual mental imagery, its relation to visual perception, and its implementation in the human brain.


Linke, D. (2001). Kunst und Gehirn: Die Erroberung des Unsichtbaren. Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag.
Summary: Discusses the localization of brain functions as they relate to art and creative ability.


Marx, K. (1994). Right brain/left brain photography. New York: Amphoto.
Summary: Interviews 70 photographers; discusses artistic technique, cerebral dominance, and aesthetics.


Mazzucchi, A. (1994). Cervello e pittura: Effetti delle lesioni cerebrali sul linguaggio pittorico. Roma: Fratelli Palombi.
Summary: Examines the psychology and creativeness of painters as well as the physiopathology of cerebellar diseases and their effect on artistic creativity.


Nettle, D. (2001). Strong imagination: Madness, creativity and human nature. London: Oxford University Press.
Summary: This book explores mental illness, its biological mechanisms, and its link to creative genius. The six overlapping areas covered include the nature of mental illness in general, the nature of schizophrenia and affective disorder in particular, the brain mechanisms underlying mental disorders, the evidence of a genetic basis, the relationship of mental disorders to creativity, and the relationship between mental health and society.
 


Nikolaenko, N.N. (1998). Brain pictures. Osaka, Japan: Kansai University.


O’Boyle, M.W., & Benbow, C.P. (1990). Handedness and its relationship to ability and talent. In S. Coren (Ed.), Left-handedness: Behavioral implications and anomalies (pp. 343- 372). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Pfenninger, K. H., & and Shubik, V.R. (Eds.). (2001). The origins of creativity. New York: Oxford University Press.
Summary: Anthology which covers the following: Overturning the dogma: catalytic RNA / Thomas R. Cech ; Form from fire / Dale Chihuly; Meaning in art and science / Gunther S. Stent; Embracing the range / David E. Rogers; Some notes on brain, imagination, and creativity / Antonio R. Damasio; With music in mind / Bruce Adolphe; The evolving brain / Karl H. Pfenninger ; The early experience / Janina Galler ; Creators: multiple intelligences / Howard Gardner ; Tides of genius / George E. Palade ; A painter's perspective / Françoise Gilor ; Line versus color: the brain and the language of visual arts / Charles F. Stevens; The fractal universe Benoit B. Mandelbrot.


Simonton, D.K. (1999). Origins of genius: Darwinian perspectives on creativity. New York: Oxford University Press.
Summary: Simonton draws from the lives of eminent scientists and creative individuals to demonstrate that creativity follows Darwinian principles of selection and variation. Chapter Two, Cognition: How does the brain create? is perhaps the most relevant chapter to this bibliography.


Smith, G.J.W., Carlsson, I. (1990). The creative process: A functional model based on empirical studies from early childhood to middle age. In G.J.W. Smith & I. Carlsson (Eds.), Psychological Issues (monograph 57). Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Summary: (from the book jacket) This monograph is concerned with the creative personality, not necessarily the creative elite. The populations studied by the authors include college students, researchers, amateur and professional artists, children and adolescents from the ages of four to sixteen years, and psychiatric patients. The authors define creativity in connection with a new testing instrument they have developed to describe creative functioning within the framework of what they term the percept-genetic model, thus placing creativity within the context of a psychology of perception rather than cognition, though rooted in the psychodynamic tradition. Supplementary material is supplied by interviews, biographical records, artistic products, and other tests. Other studies are concerned with the importance for creative functioning of early childhood memories and dreaming. Two studies explore the relation between creativity and aggression. Hemisphericity as it affects creativity is the subject of another study.


Sperry, R., Gazzaniga, M., & Bogen, I. (1969). Interhemispheric relationships. In P.J. Vinken, G.W. Bruyn, A. Biemond (Series Eds.), Handbook of clinical neurology: Vol 2. Localization in clinical neurology (pp. 273-290). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Summary: This chapter provides an explanation of the localization of various brain functions.


Solso, R. L. (1994). Cognition and the visual arts. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Summary: Discusses how the brain perceives and understands visual arts. Chapters: The big window: The science of vision; The Brain and ision; Figure and form perception; Visual cognition; Context, cognition, and art; The Eyes have it: Eye movements and the perception of art; A truly marvelous feast; Visual perspective; Perspective and the history of art; Connections: Canonic representations, memory, and the cognition of art.


Sperry, R. & Colwyn, T. (1990). Brain circuits and functions of the mind: Essays in honor of Roger W. Sperry. Cambrige: Cambridge University Press.
Summary: This book is authored by neuroscientists and comprised of twenty-two essays that explore different aspects of the brain. Part 3 of the book titled, "Cerebral Hemispheres and Human Consciousness", contains the essays most relevant to this bibliography (Lessons from cerebral commissurotomy: Auditory attention, haptic memory, and visual images in verbal associative-learning, B. Milner; The role of the right cerebral hemisphere in evaluating configurations, L. I. Benowitz).


Springer, S.P., & Deutsch, G. (1989). Left brain, right brain. San Francisco: Freeman.
Summary: Discusses hemispheric asymmetries. Chapters: A historical overview of clinical evidence for brain asymmetries; The human split brain — surgical separation of the hemispheres; Studying asymmetries in the normal brain; Measuring the brain and its activity: Some physiological correlates of asymmetry; The puzzle of the left-hander; Further evidence from the clinic: Neuropsychological disorders; Sex and asymmetry; The development of asymmetry; Asymmetries in animals; The role of asymmetry in developmental disabilities and psychiatric illness; Hemisphericity, education, and altered states; Concluding hypotheses and speculations.


Sternberg, R.J. (Ed.). (1988). The nature of creativity: Contemporary psychological perspectives. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Vitz, P. C. (1988). Analog art and digital art: A brain-hemisphere critique of modern painting. In F.H. Farley & R.W. Neperud (Eds.),The foundations of aesthetics, art, and art education (43-86). New York: Praeger.

Weisberg, R.W. (1986). Creativity: Genius and other myths. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Summary: In this volume, the author examines the phenomenon of creativity. He employs case studies, psychological research findings, and investigations of the work of some of history's most creative personalities (Newton, Edison, Picasso, and Mozart).


Zeki, S. (1990). Colour vision and functional specialization in the visual cortex. Amsterdam: Elservier.

Zeki, S. (1994). A vision of the brain. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Summary: An investigation of the visual cortex from a neurobiological viewpoint. Zeki argues that perception and comprehension of the world occur simultaneously due to reciprocal connections between all the specialized areas of the visual cortex. Since the visual cortex constitutes a large part of the cerebral cortex, the same properties are likely to hold for the rest of the cortex. It appears then that the function of the sensory parts of the visual cortex is to categorize environmental stimuli.



Zeki, S. (1999). Inner Vision: An exploration of art and the brain. Oxford: University Press.
Summary: Zeki demonstrates that the mass of geometrical and spectral information received through the eye (i.e.,visual perception) is a complex and creative process. He traces the functional similarities of the artist and the seeing brain. Zeki also explores the relationship between modern works that have emphasized lines and the reaction of cells in the brain that work on lines of specific orientation.

Periodicals



Aaron, P. G. (1982). Freud's psychohistory of Leonardo da Vinci: A matter of being right or left. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 13 (1),1-16.
Summary: The author proposes a neuropsychological interpretation of Leonardo's personality, based on the possibility that his brain was organized differently from most human brains, causing him to deal with the world in an uncommon fashion. Reevaluates Freud's psychoanalytic interpretation of Leonardo in the context of this information.


Baer, J. (1998). The case for domain-specificity of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 11, 173-177.
Summary: This article makes the case that creativity is domain-specific. For many years creativity researchers assumed that creativity was rooted in general, domain-transcending skills or traits. A growing body of evidence suggests, however, that creative performance is domain specific. This has led both to changes in thinking about the nature of creativity and to a reexamination of previous evidence and assumptions about the generality of creativity.


Bhattacharya, J., & Petsche H. (2002). Shadows of artistry: Cortical synchrony during perception and imagery of visual art. Cognitive brain research, 13 (2), 179-86.

Summary: Investigates the functional and topographical differences between artists and non-artists through visual perception and painting imagery.


The biology of art. (1999). The Economist, 351 (8113), 69-71.
Summary: The role of the visual cortex in the creation and appreciation of art is examined as well as the relationship between various art movements and physical processes.


Bogen, J.E., & Bogen, G.M. (1969). The other side of the brain III: The corpus callosum and creativity. Bulletin of the Los Angeles Neurological Societies, 34, 191-203.

Carlsson, I., Wendt, P.E., & Risberg, J. (2000). On the neurobiology of creativity: Differences in frontal activity between high and low creative subjects. Neuropsychologia, 38 (6), 873-885.
Summary: Investigates the relationship between creativity and hemispheric asymmetry as measured by cerebral blood flow.


Cartright, M., Clark-Carter, D., Ellis, S.J., & Matthews, C. (2004). Temporal lobe epilepsy and creativity: A model of association. Creative Research Journal, 16 (1), 27-34.
This article reveals the results of a study that tested the hypothesis that neural processes underlying temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) facilitates creativity. Results indicated that it is possible that certain properties of TLE exert a positive effect on creativity, although others exert a negative effect.
Cassel, R.N. (1978). Split brain functioning. Education, 99 (1), 2-7.
Summary: Summarizes research that defined the functions performed by the left and right sides of the human brain. Attention is given to the right side, or the nondominant side, of the brain and its role in perception of the environment, music, art, geometry, and aesthetics.


Changeux, J.P. (1994). Art and neuroscience. Leonardo, 27 (3), 189-201.
Summary: Pursues neuroscientific research in the field of art criticism including investigations into the possible neural origins of aesthetic pleasure and artistic creation. Conducts an investigation of a painting by Jacques-Charles de Bellange of the Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Saint Petersburg, Hermitage).


Charman, D.K. (1981). The cerebral hemispheres appear to function differently in artists and scientists. Cortex, 17 (3), 453-458.
Summary: This article reports the findings of an experiment that tested hemispheric information processing in physical scientists and artists.



Clare S., & Suter S. (1983). Drawing and the cerebral hemispheres: Bilateral EEG alpha. Biological Psychology, 16 (1-2), 15-27.
Summary: Bilateral EEG alpha was measured in 60 right-handed persons as they performed cognitive tasks such as block design, writing, and drawing. Differences in left-hemisphere, but not right-hemisphere EEG alpha activity, were responsible for asymmetry differences between writing and drawing tasks. There was no difference in bilateral EEG alpha during drawing an upright as opposed to an inverted drawing stimulus, which fails to support B. A. Edward's "cognitive shift" approach to drawing instruction.


Davis, R., & Schmit, V. (1973). Visual and verbal coding in the interhemispheric transfer of information. Acta Psychologia, 37, 229-240.

Diakidoy, I., & Spanoudis, G. (2002). Domain specificity in creativity testing: A comparison of performance on a general divergent-thinking test and a parallel, content-specific test. Journal of Creative Behavior, 36 (1), 41-61.
Summary: The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which domain-specific components, such as content and type of task, influence divergent thinking and creativity.


Elliott, P.C. (1986). Right (or left) brain cognition, wrong metaphor for creative behavior: It is prefrontal lobe volition that makes the difference in the release of creative potential. Journal of Creative Behavior, 20 (3), 202- 214.
Summary: Article argues that creative behavior is a product of the human capacity to will and requires activation of the prefrontal lobe "cells of will" to facilitate the synchronized functioning of all parts of the brain.


Fraser, M. (1998). ‘The face-off between will and fate': Artistic identity and neurological style in de Kooning's late works. Body and Society, 4 (4), 1-22.
Summary: This article explores representations of the artist Willem de Kooning, who, during the last few years of his creative life, produced a large number of paintings at the same time as he was thought to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, the author focuses on how these representations reflect themes that Jane Goodall (1996) identified as belonging to a discourse of anxiety.


Fricke, C. (1996-1997). Art and brain. Kunstforum International, 135, 351-353.
Summary: Exhibition of contemporary art held in November 1994 at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, and 1995-1996 at the Deutsches Museum Bonn. 'Art and Brain' featured interdisciplinary relationships between art and science.


Fricke, C. (1999). Für eine Überwindung der Teilkulturen. Kunstforum International, 144, 46-47.
Summary: An interview with neuroscientist Ernst Pöppel, who discusses art and aspects of perception and creativity. Pöppel was one of the organizers of the exhibition series ‘Art and Brain’ held in Jülich (1994) and Bonn (1995-1996).

Gasparrini, B., Shealy C., & Walters D. (1980). Differences in size and spatial placement of drawings of left versus right hemisphere brain-damaged patients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48 (5), 670-672.

Garret, S.V. (1976). Putting our whole brain to use: A fresh look at the creative process. Journal of Creative Behavior, 10, 239-249.

Summary: Defines and examines the creative process and discusses the functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain.


Gazzaniga, M. S. (1998). The split brain revisited. Scientific American, 279 (1), 50-55.
Summary: A study of three patients who underwent surgery to remove the corpus callosum. Results: The split brain continues to receive inputs but only those presented to the left hemisphere can be elucidated upon by the patient.


Golitsin, G. A., Kamenskiy, V. S., & Petrov, V. M. (1989). Interhemispheric asymmetry in the creative process in fine arts. Voprosy Psychologii, 5, 148-153.

Gowan, J.C. (1979). The production of creativity through right hemisphere imagery. Journal of Creative Behavior, 13, 39-51.
Summary: Research is reviewed on the relationship between right hemisphere imagery and the development of creativity. The role of nonverbal imagery in the incubation period is discussed.


Gross, C.,& Bornstein, M. (1978). Left and right in science and art. Leonardo, 11, 29-38.
Summary: Article proposes an explanation of why mirror images are can appear confusing. Considers the effects of mirror reversing in painting and left/right in artistic space. Suggests that some artistic tendencies reflect the influence of lateralized brain functions, whereas others are cultural conventions.


Harnad, S.R. (1972). Creativity, lateral saccates, and the non-dominant hemisphere. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 24, 653-654.


Harpaz, I. (1990). Asymmetry of hemispheric functions and creativity: An empirical examination. Journal of Creative Behavior, 24 (3), 161-170.
Summary: A brain laterality test and a creativity test were administered to 119 economics and accounting students and 65 creative arts students. Results: No differences were found between the two types of students in brain dominance or creativity. Students who displayed right hemispheric superiority also excelled on the creativity tests.


Harth, E. (1999). The emergence of art and language in the human brain. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6 (6), 97-115.
Summary: Article summarizes that human brains are characterized by sensory pathways, allowing higher cortical centers to control neural activity patterns at peripheral sensory areas. This feature is characterized as an internal sketchpad and involves recursive interactions between central symbols and peripheral images. The process is assumed to be the fundamental mechanism underlying most cognitive functions. The paper attempts to portray the beginnings of art and language as natural extensions of these pre-existing internal processes, made possible by the greatly enlarged human prefrontal cortex.


Hassler, M. (1990). Functional cerebral asymmetries and cognitive abilities in musicians, painters, and controls. Brain and Cognition, 13 (1), 1-17.

Summary: Investigation into the participation of left and right-hemisphere functions in verbal and spatial processing with musical composers, instrumentalists, painters, and non-musicians from student and junior high school populations.



Hines, T. (1991). The myth of right hemisphere creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 25 (3), 223-227.
Summary: This article reviews the evidence on the relationship between the two brain hemispheres and creative cognitive processes.


Hoppe, K.D. (1988). Hemispheric specialization and creativity. The Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 11(3), 303-15.
Summary: Discusses the results of an experimental study on eight (split-brain) patients and eight normal matched controls that illuminate the difference in creativity. Result: In contrast to split-brain people, expressive-creative persons verbalized their presentational symbolization and imagery of the right hemisphere, which was transformed via corpus callosum to the left hemisphere. The experience of a 45-yr-old creative female whose left hemisphere was overflooded by affects and imagery, expressed in her paintings, illuminates the importance of a balanced transcallosal symbollexia and hemispheric bisociation in psychotherapy.


Hoppe, K.D., & Kyle, N.L. (1990). Dual brain, creativity, and health. Creativity Research Journal, 3, 150-157.
Summary: Reviews the importance of the specialized functions of the right and left hemispheres, noting applications to education, treatment, creativity, and research.


Hovsepian, W., Slaymaker, F., & Johnson, J.E. (1980). Handedness as a determinant of left-right placement in human figure drawings. Journal of Personality Assessment, 44 (5), 470-3.
Summary: Forty-nine right-handed and 25 left-handed undergraduates completed the Thorndike Dimensions of Temperament (DOT) Scale and drew pictures of human figures. Results: There was no significant relationship between the personality variables in the DOT and drawing placement. However, left-right placement did vary significantly as a function of handedness but not eye dominance. Although all subjects tended to place their drawings left-of-center, right-handed subjects were significantly more extreme in their placement than were left-handed subjects.


Hufschmidt, H.J. (1980).
Das Rechts Links Profil im Kulturhistorischen

Längsschnitt: Ein Dominanzproblem [The profile direction toward right and left as seen from a historical study of cultural development: A dominance problem]. Archiv Fur Psychiatrie Und Nervenkrankheiten, 229 (1), 17-43.
Summary: Eighty percent of right-handers drawing a human profile direct it towards the left. The neurophysiological basis for this fact and the dominant role that the right hemisphere plays in higher visual performances is discussed. Historical preference for profile direction is traced back to antiquity.


Hufschmidt, H.J. (1985). Zeichnungsrichtung, Schreibrichtung und Blickfelddominanz. Eine experimentelle und kulturhistorische Studie. [Orientation of art, orientation of writing and visual field dominance: An experimental and cultural historical study]. European Archives of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences, 235 (2), 76-81.
Summary: Investigations have shown that 75% of children aged 3-6 years, who have not acquired the ability to write, tend to draw and sketch from the left to the right side. The same tendency has also been found in adults with regard to drawing, which indicates a dominance of the left field of vision when the cerebral optical analysis is used, as it invariably is for the appreciation of three-dimensional figures.


Iwata, M. (1996). Creativity in modern painting and the cerebral mechanism of vision. Annual of Psychoanalysis, 24, 113-129.
Summary: Relates the principles of visual processing to creativity in modern painting.


Katz, A.N. (1983). Creativity and individual differences in asymmetric cerebral hemispheric functioning. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 1, 3—16.
Author Abstract:Administered the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, the Remote Associates Test, the Quick Test, the Deciphering Language subscale of the Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests, an artistic preference test, and a battery of hemisphere reference tests to 100 17-30 year old subjects to determine whether highly creative individuals can be differentiated from those with lesser creativity on the basis of hemispheric processing. Results show that individuals with high creativity exhibited a greater tendency to habitually employ the right hemisphere in task solution and a pattern of cerebral lateralization marked by a greater segregation of verbal functions to the left hemisphere and bilateral representation of a nonverbal, melodic function. Predicting creativity level on the basis of hemispheric task performance was observed even when general intellectual abilities were equated in the high and low creative groups.


Katz, A.N. (1986). The relationships between creativity and cerebral hemisphericity for creative architects, scientists, and mathematicians. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 4, 97-108.

Kettlewell, N., & Lipscomb, S. (1992). Neuropsychological correlates for realism- abstraction, a dimension of aesthetics. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 75 (3), 1023-1026.
Summary: Over 200 undergraduates were shown 50 color slides of paintings representing ten areas of subject matter and five levels of realism. The subjects rated from 1 to 9 their liking of each painting and then took the Cognitive Laterality Battery. Individuals with clear preference for realism formed one group and those showing clear preference for abstraction formed a second. Result: Supports the idea that there is a possible neuropsychological basis for the realism-abstraction preference dimension in aesthetics.


Kirk, A., & Kertesz, A. (1993). Subcortical contributions to drawing. Brain and Cognition. 21 (1), 57-70.
Summary: Examines incidence and severity of drawing impairment after cortical and subcortical strokes and whether there were qualitative differences between drawings produced by these two group. Results: Although previously noted right/left differences were confirmed, subcortical drawings did not differ from cortical drawings on any measures, including overall impairment. Compared with cortical patients, drawing impairment in those with subcortical lesions (especially left) was more strongly associated with impairment of other cognitive abilities.


Kimura, D. (1973). The asymmetry of the human brain. Scientific American, 228, 70-78.
Summary: Describes techniques for studying the division of labor of the two cerebral hemispheres in normal subjects. Evidence suggests that, for right-handed people, the left hemisphere is dominant in the auditory perception of spoken sounds, recognition of visually presented verbal material, skilled movements, and free movements during speech. Right hemisphere dominance is suggested for auditory perception of certain non-speech sounds, visual and tactual spatial discrimination, and perception of visually presented material.


Korba, R. (1993, November 18-21). Creativity and Consciousness in Problem Solving: Creative Cognition and the Modular Mind. Paper presented at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association, Miami Beach: Florida.
Summary: Paper presents the following ideas: Creative cognition appears to require that both brain hemispheres be active during cognitive problem solving, which is not problematic since the cerebral cortex is organized around structures that support lateral cortical functions and "deep" neurological architectures.


McCallum, R.S. & Glynn, S.M. (1979). Hemispheric specialization and creative behavior. Journal of Creative-Behavior, 13 (4), 263-273.
Summary: Article reviews evidence for hemispheric specialization based on research in the areas of split-brain functioning, dichotic listening, tachistoscopic image presentation, EEG responses, conjugate lateral eye movements, and self-report techniques. Data suggests that the left hemisphere is specialized for analytic and logical processes and should relate to basic skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The right hemisphere is specialized in holistic, intuitive, and spatial functions and should relate to performance in the arts. Research relating creativity to hemispheric specialization indicates that creative potential is shared by both hemispheres.


McDermott, L. (1982). The structure of artistic evolution: An interdisciplinary perspective. In Vayer (Series Ed.), Problemi di metodo; condizioni di esistenza di una storia dell’arte: Comité international d’histoire l’art (125-131). Bologna: CLUEB.
Summary: Investigates the function of the right cerebral hemisphere and its role for processing information contained in relational light and dark areas (or masses, patches, brush-strokes, etc.) and the left hemisphere functions which serve more effectively as a processor of linear detail.


Martindale, C., Hines, D., Mitchell, L., & Covello, E. (1984). EEG alpha asymmetry and creativity. Personality and Individual Differences, 5, 77-86.

Miller, B. L. and Hou, C.E. (2004). Portraits of artists: Emergence of visual creativity in dementia. Archives of Neurology, 61, 842-844.
This article addresses the many brain areas responsible for various cognitive processes and explains that the pattern of degeneration in dementia can lead to predictable changes in art. The authors describe specific diseases and the impact they have on artistic and visual creativity.
Miran, M., & Miran, E. (1984). Cerebral asymmetries: Neuropsychological measurement and theoretical issues. Biological Psychology, 19 (3-4), 295- 304.
Summary: Reviews methodological issues in the study of the right brain/left brain functions and then discusses a model of integrated brain functioning. This integrated brain model has implications for schizophrenia and creativity.


Monfort, M., Martin, S. A., & Frederickson, W. (1990). Information processing differences and laterality of students from different colleges and disciplines. Perceptual and Motor Skill. 70 (1), 163-172.
Summary: Examines the possible relation between hemispheric dominance and choice of college major by comparing 1,023 university students' scores on the Human Processing Information Survey with biographical information, health history, and handedness. A preference for right-brain hemispheric processing was found among subjects majoring in such subjects as music, journalism, art, oral communication, and architecture. A preference for left-brain was found among subjects majoring in such subjects as management, computer science, mathematics, nursing, criminal justice, and elementary education.


Moss, E. L. (2000). How drawing and driving are alike. American Artist, 64 (690), 42-47.
Summary: The author interviews Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The article describes how Edwards’ book was developed, what it teaches readers, and why the book has been criticized by art educators and neuroscientists.


Petrov, V. M. (1996). Quantitative estimates of left and right hemispherical dominance in art. Leonardo, 29 (3), 201-5.
Summary: Features of functional brain asymmetry were studied by analyzing the work of visual artists and composers from the 17th to the 20th centuries. In order to measure these features, an iterative procedure was used, permitting researchers to use experts as specific "instruments." Results: Left or right hemispherical dominance was discovered in the work of each painter and composer studied.


Norlander, T. (2001). Conceptual convergence in creativity: Incubation and brain disease state. Creativity Research Journal, 13 (3-4), 329-333.
Summary: Article discusses cognitively and psychodynamically influenced creativity paradigms including links between (1) the notion that certain individuals tend to favor visual thinking, whereas others use more verbal thinking; (2) the necessity for more research on the phenomenon of incubation; and (3) the growing relevance of implicating brain structure and function constellations. Author also examines idea that brain disease states, including schizophrenia and alcohol abuse, may affect creativity.


Petrov, V. M. (1998). The evolution of art: An investigation of cycles of left and right hemispherical creativity in art. Leonardo, 31 (3), 219-223.

Poreh, A. M., & Whitman, R.D. (1991). Creative cognitive processes and hemispheric specialization. Journal of Creative Behavior, 25 (2), 169-179.
Summary: The relationship between creative thought processes and hemispheric asymmetry is examined in 47 right-handed male undergraduates.

Ramachandran, V.S., & Hirstein, W. (1999). The science of art: A neurological theory of aesthetic experience. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6 (6), 15-51.

Summary: Presents a theory of human artistic experience and the neural mechanisms that mediate it. The paper examines a quest for artistic universals and proposes a list of eight laws of artistic experience--a set of heuristics that artists either consciously or unconsciously deploy in order to stimulate the visual areas of the brain.

Rekdal, C.K. (1979). Hemispheric lateralization, cerebral dominance, conjugate saccadic behavior and their use in identifying the creatively gifted. Gifted Child Quarterly, 23 (1), 101-108.

Summary: An investigation of brain research in the areas of hemispheric lateralization, cerebral dominance and conjugate saccadic behavior is analyzed.


Rotenberg, V.S. (1998). Richness against freedom: Two hemisphere functions and the problem of creativity. European Journal for High Ability, 9 (1), 11-19.
Summary: This book investigates the difference between left and right hemisphere activity as "defining two opposite modes for the organization of contextual connections between elements of information." According to the results of psychophysiological investigations, it is suggested that the "freedom" displayed by the isolated left hemisphere in manipulating information is due to the loss of multidimensional connections between objects. The ability to grasp such connections by the right hemisphere determines the richness of its mental activity and permits creativity. The peculiarity of the creative activity of schizophrenics is discussed and is considered to be a consequence of functional insufficiency of right hemisphere activity.


Rothenberg, A. (1988). Creativity and the homospatial process: Experimental studies. The Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 11 (3), 443-59.
Summary: This study conducted four experiments involving exposure to stimuli intended to evoke the "homospatial process." The experiments are as follows: (1) Forty-three writers produced short poetic metaphors in response to 10 different pairs of slide stimuli, superimposed or side-by-side. (2) Forty-six writers were exposed to the same stimuli to encourage mental elaboration in the creation of poetic metaphors. (3) Drawings were created by 43 artists separated into a group exposed to 3 superimposed images and a control group exposed to the images side-by-side. (4) Thirty-nine artists were separated into a group exposed to 3 superimposed images and a control group exposed to the same images constructed into a single-image figure-ground display. Results: Subjects productions in the superimposed visual stimuli condition were rated higher in creativity than productions in the control condition..


Schnider, A., Regard, M., Benson, D.F., & Landis,T. (1993). Effect of a right-hemisphere stroke on an artist's performance. Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology, and Behavioral Neurology, 6 (4), 249-255.
Summary: Studies the case of a 54-yr-old artist who suffered hallucinations and a bipolar disorder after a stroke. The patient retained his ability and desire to express himself through art; although post-stroke drawings differed markedly from pre-stroke ones.


Sergent, J. (1989). Image generation and processing of generated images in the cerebral hemispheres. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 15 (1), 170-179.

Summary: A review of research findings which indicate computational models describing the role of the cerebral hemispheres to visual imagery suggest an exclusive capacity of the left hemisphere to generate multipart images.



Shibahara, N., & Lucero, W.B. (2001). Access to perceptual and conceptual information in the left and right hemispheres. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 93 (3): 649-59.
Summary: A study that suggests the imagery system in the right hemisphere may contribute to the perceptual priming observed in this hemisphere.


Siler, T. (1985). Neurocosmology: Ideas and images towards an art-science- technology synthesis. Leonardo, 18I (1), 1-10.


Smith, G.J.W., Carlsson, I. & Sandström, S. (1985). Artists and artistic creativity. Psychological Research Bulletin, 25, 1-26.


Solso, R.L. (2000). The cognitive neuroscience of art: A preliminary MRI observation. Journal-of-Consciousness-Studies, 7(8-9), 75-85.
Summary: The author provides an overview of past research that has advanced the understanding of how people process visual art. In addition, results are presented from a preliminary study of an artist that drew a portrait while in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.


Sorrell, M., & Halpin, D.M.G. (1991). Art and neurology. The British Journal of Aesthetics, 31, 241-250.


Thomas, Y.A., &Thomas,S.B. (1983). Cerebral lateralization and its effect on drawing. Education, 104 (1), 47-50.
Summary: Discusses the importance of both sides of the brain for the development of drawing skills but notes that the left brain can inhibit the action of the right brain. Provides a discussion of cerebral lateralization and child development.


Torrance, E.P., & Mourad, S. (1979). Role of hemisphericity in performance on selected measures of creativity. Gifted Child Quarterly, 23, 44-45.
Summary: Twenty-eight graduate students participated in a study of style of learning and thinking (hemisphericity) as it relates to scores on creativity tests.


Van Lancker, D. (1997). Rags to riches: Our increasing appreciation of cognitive and communicative abilities of the human right cerebral hemisphere. Brain and Language, 57 (1), 1-11.
Summary: The emergence of better understanding of auditory specializations, affective/emotional functions, personal relevance, idiosyncratic lexical organization, and the various aspects of language use communicative pragmatics is reviewed.


Weinstein, S., & Graves, R.E. (2002). Are creativity and schizotypy products of a right hemisphere bias? Brain and Cognition, 49 (1), 138-151.
Summary: This study attempts to integrate findings about higher creativity, higher schizotypy, and right hemisphere laterality measures.


Wieder, C. G. (1984). The left-brain/right-brain model of mind: Ancient myth in modern garb. Visual Arts Research. 10 (2), 66-72.
Summary: Argues that the split left-brain/right-brain conception of mind adopted by writers in the field of art education is little more than the age-old dichotomy of cognition and affect disguised as modern science. In attempting to verify this argument, historical and philosophical sources of the split left-brain/right-brain conception of mind are examined.


Winner, E. (2000). The origins and ends of giftedness. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 159-169.
Summary: Issues about giftedness are discussed: the origins of giftedness; the view that giftedness is entirely a product of training is critiqued; gifted children have social and emotional difficulties that set them apart; evidence for the often uneven cognitive profiles of such children is presented; and the relationship between childhood giftedness and "domain" creativity in adulthood is discussed.


Zeki, S., & Lamb, M. (1994). The neurology of kinetic art. Brain, 117 (3), 607-636.
Summary: Article describes kinetic art as art in which objective motion plays a dominant part or an art in which the perception of motion is strongly induced by a static figure. It is suggested that all visual art must obey the laws of the visual system: (1) an image of the visual world is not impressed upon the retina, but assembled together in the visual cortex, (2) separate attributes of the visual scene are processed in geographically separate parts of the visual cortex, before being combined to give a unified and coherent picture of the visual world, and (3) the attributes that are separated, and separately processed, in the cerebral cortex are those that have primacy in vision. These are color, form, motion, and possibly depth. Those involved in kinetic art have tried to exploit motion. Artists are unknowingly exploring the organization of the visual brain.


Zeki, S. (1999). Art and the brain. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6 (6), 76-96.
Summary: Examines what has been learned about the visual brain in the past quarter of a century to begin to study the biological foundations of aesthetics. Discussion centers around the concept and definition of the functions of the visual brain and its applicability to the function of art, Plato's implicit comparison of the limitations of art to the infinite capacities of the brain, Cubism, a neurological comparison of two different artists, examples of Einfuehlung, and whether or not there is a significant difference in the pattern of brain activity when subjects look at abstract as opposed to representational art.


Zeki, S. (2001). Essays on science and society. Artistic creativity and the brain. Science, 293 (5527), 51-52.
Summary: This article discusses the variability of the brain in terms of creative activity and its appreciation. Zeki describes two laws of the visual brain: constancy and abstraction.


Zeki, S. (2002). Neural concept formation and art: Dante, Michelangelo, Wagner. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 9 (3), 53-76.
Summary : Discusses the art of Dante, Michelangelo and Wagner in neurological terms. Author attempts to show that the origins of their art can be traced to the fundamental characteristic of the brain’s capacity to form concepts.


Theses, Dissertations, and Other Formats



Blain, J. (1989). A correlational study of creativity, hemispheric brain dominance, and graduate record examination scores of adult graduate learners. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. East Texas State University.


Broadbent, D. E., Feynman, R.P., Skinner, B.F., Chomsky, N., Hepp, D., Sperry, R., et al. (1971). Right brain/left brain. Center for Cassette Studies.
Summary: Cassette tape, English language.


Browne, T.J. (1986). Hemisphericity and its relationship to athletics, art, dance and achievement: A study among grade twelve students (Doctoral dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1986). Dissertation Abstract International, 48, no. 01A: 0097.
Author’s Abstract: The Herrmann Participant Survey Form and the Brog Learning Style Questionnaire were administered to the grade twelve class of Parkland Secondary School in Sidney, British Columbia. Each student's cumulative grade point average for grades nine, ten, eleven and half of grade twelve were calculated and used as a measure of achievement. In addition, student participation in school programs of athletics, art and dance were determined. Hypotheses relating student hemisphericity with sex, achievement and participation in athletics, art and dance were tested. No statistically significant relationships were found. It was further determined that there was less than fifty percent agreement between hemisphericity scores obtained using the Brog Learning Style Questionnaire and scores obtained using the Herrmann Participant Survey Form.


Dake, D. M. (1997). A personal vision quest: Learning to think like an artist. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 408941)
Summary: The author discusses the differences between the thinking of visual artists and those without artistic inclinations, as identified by neuropsychologists and psychologists. Artists, who are more aware of the abstract structures underlying visual perception, are better able to control and manipulate the viso-spatial abstract structure of their visions for communicative and creative purposes. Visual artists of acknowledged creativity have also been found to demonstrate much greater use of allusive thinking than non-artists. Research has suggested that the superimposition of separate entities and phenomena in the same space within the human brain is the triggering mechanism for creative thought, or homospatial thinking.


Dusa, M.M. (1983). . Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Northern Illinois.

Gates, D. A. (1995). An investigation of the relationships between degree of brain dominance and student preference for spatial dimensionality in the production of art at the high school level. Unpublished master’s thesis. Rowan College of New Jersey.

Goodrum, D. (1978). A study to investigate the correlations between an adolescent’s creativity, right and left hemispheric thinking and Piagetian cognitive development. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Northern Colorado.
Hermann, N. (1988). Herrmann Participant Survey Form. Lake Lure, NC: Ned Herrmann Group, Applied Creative Services (Educational Testing Service Call no. TC016632)
Summary: This survey uses the Herrmann 4-quadrant model of brain usage/thinking style (developed by the author). Identifies upper left, upper right, lower left and lower right brain dominance patterns and links them creativity and thinking style.


Herrmann, N. (1989-1995). Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI). Lake Lure, NC: Herrmann International (Educational Testing Service Call no. TC021863)
Summary: The HBDI was designed to measure thinking styles. It identifies one’s dominant approach: Logical, Imaginative, Sequential, or Interpersonal.


Hraber, C. R. (1976). Left and right brain hemispheres and their effect on creativity. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Rochester Institute of Technology.


McFarland, D.E. (1990). Biologic substrate for artist ability. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of South Carolina.
Summary: Thesis explores localization of brain functions and creative ability.


McWhinnie, H.J. (1989). The computer and the right side of the brain. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED318461)
Author’s Abstract: This paper presents a discussion of the use of microcomputers and computer graphics programs as basic design experiences which relate as much to the right as to the left side of the brain. It reviews selected research in art education that shows the importance of the right brain in various areas of creative behavior and in developing drawing skills. It is argued that the microcomputer allows the artist-user to function both analytically and intuitively--on both the left and right sides of the brain--with a high degree of visual and perceptual literacy, intuitive and creative insight, and aesthetic awareness. A personal experience is described involving the use of the computer with the right brain approach in computer graphics and computer- assisted design. The paper concludes with comments on the work of Betty Edwards and Mona Brookes as well as observations on their ideas based upon tape recorded interviews conducted at the Los Angeles meeting of the National Art Education Association in April of 1988.



McWhinnie, H.J. (1997). A model for a grand theory: Creativity in art. (ERIC document Reproduction Service No. ED 434042)
Summary: This paper presents a collection of ideas about a grand theory of creativity in the arts. The theory elaborated in the paper is based upon the following five major bodies of psychological research: (1) hemisphere differences and cerebral lateralization; (2) chemical balance in the brain and bipolar factors; (3) spatial intelligence and individual patterns; (4) gender related differences; and (5) Myers Briggs Type Indicator, the Jungian mode.


Mueller, L. (1989). A correlational study of the relationship between non-verbal intelligence, creativity, and cerebral dominance. Master’s thesis. In Canadian theses. Ottawa: National Library of Canada.

Rosen, R.S. (1982). Creativity and cerebral functioning: An investigation of neuropsychological and developmental variables. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Georgia.

Sacks, O., & Davis, R. (Speakers). (2000). Creativity and the brain. Norman, OK: Board of Regents, University of Oklahoma.
Summary: Videocassette. Interview with Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author, about creativity and the brain.


Smith, G.J.W., & Carlsson, I. (1990). CFT: Creative Functioning Test. Lund, Sweden: Lund University, Department of Psychology.
Summary: The CFT is based on the theory that our perception of reality is a result of an instantaneous mind/brain process. Since this process is instantaneous, it is difficult to study under normal circumstances. The CFT avoids this difficulty by using a tachistoscopic method that causes an artificial prolongation of the perceptual process (Carlsson, Wendt, & Risberg, 2000, p. 875.).


Timmcke, B. A. (1979). The correlation of lateral preference to creativity. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Torbert, Q. D. (1983). Hemispherical preference and artistic ability. Unpublished master’s thesis. California State College, San Bernardino.

Torrance, E.P. (1990a). Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, Verbal Forms A and B: Manual for scoring and interpreting the results. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service.
Summary: The purpose of this test is to identify and evaluate creative potential.

Torrance, E.P. (1990b). Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, Verbal Forms A and B: Directions manual. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service.
Summary: The purpose of this test is to identify and evaluate creative potential.

Walker, D.M. (1995). Connecting right and left brain: Increasing academic performance of African American students through the arts. (Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Alliance of Black School Educators 25th, Dallas, TX, November 15, 1995). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 390857)
Author’s Abstract: An after-school fine arts program was developed at J. W. Sexton High School (Lansing, Michigan), based on the premise that participation in the fine arts, particularly by African Americans, would lead to higher grade point averages and a greater commitment to school life. A review of relevant literature revealed a number of reasons for low academic achievement in African American children, including low self-confidence and non-supportive school environment. Research on brain hemisphericity and learning theory, integration of fine arts to enhance whole brain learning, and motivation and engagement of students in school life also supported the Sexton High School program. The program was designed to give participants confidence to join clubs, take academic risks, and become part of band, orchestra, drama, forensics, etc. during the next semester or year. Total number of program participants was 68, of whom 54 were considered `at risk.` During the study, 45 percent of participants increased their grade point average, 100 percent of participants joined a school club or sport, and school staff noted an improvement in the behavior of participants. Parents involved in the program reported positive changes in their children`s home and school behavior. The findings suggested that students are unsuccessful at school not because they lack the mental ability to perform the tasks, but because they lack responsible behavior. Fine arts require higher order thinking skills, individual and group efforts, and an atmosphere of controlled freedom which teaches responsibility. In this particular high school, the program supported the theory that whole brain development is critical to learning theory and should assure the inclusion of fine arts in the school curriculum and extra-curricular activities. The program also supported the premise that students involved in student life make a greater commitment to their academic achievement, and hence have greater success in high school.

Updated 28 April 2005.

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