Left brain versus right brain

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For most of us, the left brain dominates our thinking, but in a few people the right brain dominates. And some of them have quite extraordinary abilities.

It's called the right brain versus left brain test. If, like most, you see the lady spinning anticlockwise (see link below), your thinking is dominated by the left hemisphere of your brain.

But if you see the lady spinning clockwise, you're one of the rare people who rely heavily on the right side of your brain. It can occur in anyone, but is said to be more frequent among the autistic population.

From an early age, it was clear that Ethan McQueer was different.

"I would actually write my letters backwards, okay, and the teacher got worried about it," Ethan said.

He became the subject of study, due to his remarkable memory. In 2001, at the age of 11, he attracted national media coverage as the boy who could name every capital city in the world.

Now 17 and just finished year 12, Ethan is the first in his family to get a perfect score in the South Australian certificate of education.

"Going back to year 8, when I first started high school, everyone wouldn't know me as that, 'the capital cities boy'," Ethan said.

"Because everyone knew I knew the capital cities and they'd all give me slack about it."

Give Ethan a country, he'll give you the capital. Argentina: Buenos Aires. Bangladesh: Dakkar. Estonia: Tallinn. Belarus: Minsk, and so on.

But Ethan's encyclopaedic memory goes further. His friends call him on their mobile phones for directions. You see, Ethan also memorises road maps.

That's how he knows the way to his cricket game tomorrow, despite never having been to the oval.

"Say from my house, go down Victoria Avenue, go over the bridge, onto St Vincent St, onto Port River Expressway, up the Salisbury Highway, up John Rise Avenue, up May North Road and it should be on your right," Ethan told us.

"It's actually made me feel more confident in achieving greater things, beyond what this family's done," he said.

Ethan is what's known as 'mildly savant'. The most gifted kind is the 'prodigious savant', of whom there are only 100 in the world.

Their abilities are the most remarkable, like that of Melbourne man Tim Mellows, who can tell anyone which day of the week they were born. For example, that May 9, 1965, was a Sunday and was Mother's Day.

Then there's Patrick McFarley. Despite being unable to talk, read or write, he loves music. He first played Beethoven's ode to joy when he was 15 months old. He has perfect pitch and can play any chord after hearing it once.

How do savants know what they know? The answer is a tale of two halves: the left and right sides of the brain. The right side is the centre of creativity and memory, fuelling art, music and maths skills.

The more dominant left side controls logic and language.

It's thought savants are born with abnormal wiring in the brain, allowing the right side to flourish, but in some cases brain injury to the left side later in life can result in the right side taking over.

At Flinders University in South Australia, savant specialist Dr Robyn Young has tested the idea that we all possess the skills and talents that until now have only emerged in these special few.

"There is some interesting discussion that we might be born with these skills and that we don't develop them for various reasons," Dr Young said.

"Some people can really focus in and really train themselves. And that's what you need to develop any skill, is to have an obsession and an interest in it.

"So when we're trying to teach children skills or to develop something, we need to create that self motivation. But also to the exclusion of other things that are going on in their life, so that's easier said than done."

Start with the spinning lady on the link below. See if you can make her change direction and begin the journey into your own mind.

As for Ethan, he's looking forward to a future as an accountant. But regardless of what happens, he is sure of one thing.

"Yes, I'll never get lost," he said.

More information

Spinning Lady test: Click here to take the right brain versus left brain test.

Dr Robyn Young, Flinders University (Adelaide):
www.socsci.flinders.edu.au/psyc/staff/RobynYoung/

Professor Allan Snyder, Centre for the Mind (University of Sydney): www.centreforthemind.com

"My Brilliant Brain" (National Geographic Channel): natgeochannel.co.uk/explore/MyBrilliantBrain