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I keep being told that exercises like touching your left knee with your right hand help stimulate the brain hemispheres and the "balance" between them.

Here's a random example I found on Google from BrainAdvance.

Can anyone provide evidence for either side of this claim?

DarkLightA
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  • Unfortunately, what particular example does NOT say the hemispheres are connected, merely that they are balanced. (While still nonsense, it is a vaguer and more plausible claim.) Do you have any notable examples of people saying "connected"? – Oddthinking May 29 '13 at 05:57
  • The hemispheres are anatomically connected by Corpus Callosum, so there is no need to _connect_ the hemispheres. The goal of such exercises is to _stimulate_ this part of the brain to allegedly improve communication between the left 'logical' hemisphere and the right 'intuitive' hemisphere. In this whole-brain state our capabilities are apparently increased. I'm rather skeptical about this and would need to search some literature to prove it. – Rabbit May 29 '13 at 11:59
  • if the hemispheres were at opposite ends of a field then exercise and string could conceivable be used to connect them. – Ian May 29 '13 at 12:26
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    Thanks guys. I reworded the question to reflect your responses. – DarkLightA May 29 '13 at 14:00
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    As always, it is important that you define what is meant by "balance" between the hemispheres. – Waldheri May 29 '13 at 15:12
  • @DarkLightA What I meant in my comment was to _stimulate_ the Corpus Callosum, not the hemispheres. As the exercise allegedly causes the neurons in Corpus Callosum to fire more often, the hemispheres are 'forced' to exchange signals between each other. – Rabbit May 29 '13 at 15:31

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