Confusing right and left: why does this happen?

There are many of us who confuse left and right. In fact, it is estimated that almost 20% of the population has problems making this discrimination automatically. The reason for this is in a very specific area of our brain: the angular gyrus.

That’s right, as striking as it may seem, There are many of us who confuse the left and the right. Sometimes it is even enough for someone to give us an instruction during a yoga class or while driving to doubt our intuition. Beyond labeling ourselves as clumsy, we must understand that this differentiation is a complex neurological process.

Somehow, A good part of us are well familiar with that phrase. “give me that on your right… No! from your other right”. This topic always raises some laughter from our close circle; However, it should be noted that it is an aspect of great importance and seriousness. Something like this can not only cause us the occasional mishap while driving.

Likewise, these surgical errors are known, where more than one medical team has operated on the wrong leg or removed, for example, the wrong kidney. The latter happened in 2000, as explained in a study published in the British Medical Journal. Urologist John G. Roberts removed the organ from the wrong side, causing the death of the patient by leaving him without the only functional kidney.

They are, without a doubt, regrettable mistakes and in which the stress factor also increases this type of tragedies. However, something that neurologists recommend is that it is worth resorting to some type of mental strategy. Stopping for a few seconds to clarify where the right is and where the left is can undoubtedly avoid small mistakes. of undesirable consequences.

One of the factors why we confuse left and right is mere distraction. This type of discrimination requires that we be able to focus our attention for a few seconds; something we don’t always do.

When we confuse left and right, why does it happen?

There are those who point out that we confuse left and right because we have a high IQ. In this sense, it should be noted that there are no conclusive studies. It is known, yes, that about 20% have this problem more frequently and that 99% of us have made a mistake at some point. Let’s see, however, what science tells us.

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Differentiating left from right is not easy

Many may laugh, but discriminating where the left is and where the right is requires an effort for our brain. In fact, it’s easier for you to tell if something is up or down. Differentiating whether something is on one side or the other with respect to our position involves a very complex neurobiological process.

In this discrimination we must integrate processes that involve sensory and perceptual information, our memory and even the function of language. All of this has to do with our brain lateralizationthe way we organize information and how we process everything that surrounds us.

Therefore, identifying where our right is and where our left is in a thousandth of a second is not something simple or automatic.

Angular gyrus in the parietal lobe may explain why we confuse left and right

There are those of us who constantly confuse left and right.. Far from being something punctual, it is that eternal thing that makes it difficult for us to distinguish, orient ourselves and even have good coordination to do yoga or dance, for example.

A study carried out by doctors Michael Hirnstein, Uri Bayer and Anne Ellison, and published in the journal Neurology, notes that The area that regulates coordination in discrimination is the angular gyrus in the parietal lobe. There are those who present less activation in this area, hence the consequent problems in discriminating both orientations.

However, There are more serious cases, in which this area presents greater dysfunction, giving rise to what is known as s Gerstmann syndrome (Gold et al. 1995). In these conditions, the following symptoms also appear:

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Agraphia (problems writing).Acalculia (difficulty assuming mathematical skills).Confusion to discriminate left from right.

What can we do to avoid confusing the left with the right?

There are many of us who confuse left and right. What can we do in these cases? Well, something that neurologists and psychologists recommend is that we accept that everyone, absolutely everyone, can make a mistake in this matter.

Factors such as stress or being in an environment with a lot of sounds can cause us to make a mistake at any given moment (which could be serious if we are behind the wheel).

Therefore, To avoid these errors, it is best to focus our attentionLikewise, and for everyday life, there is a very simple technique to differentiate left and right. To do this, we place our thumbs at a right angle to the index finger. The hand that represents an “L” in the correct orientation will be the left one.

Finally, note that there are games and exercises that we can download to our mobile phones and that will help us improve our orientation and laterality. After all, This is not a competition to be facilitated only in the little ones.. Adults also benefit from this type of mental exercises.