The Right Brain is Visual and Spatially Intelligent

According to Ornstein, damage to the right brain not only destroys the visual
information coming from the left, but more importantly our understanding
of space. Similarly, damage to the left brain destroys the ability of the right
brain to verbalize occasionally (using the left brain’s speech centres). 20 The
left brain verbalizes and is time-like. In contrast, the right brain communi-
cates using visual messages and is space-like. We can say, therefore, that the
left brain handles ‘name’ and the right brain handles ‘form’; the right brain
handles ‘space’ and the left brain ‘time.’ Together, the whole brain gives us
the experience of ‘name and form’ in spacetime.

Spatial intelligence is that aspect of our intelligence that allows us to make
judgments about the three-dimensional world in which we live. A football
player catching a pass relies on spatial intelligence to judge the trajectory of
the ball. An architect uses it to visualise what a building will look like when
it is completed. We all use it every time we drive a car and have to judge the
distance to the car in front of us. Advanced math courses require good spa-
tial intelligence. This spatial intelligence is related to the ability of the right
brain to see things holistically, using a top-down process. As already noted,
while the left brain may see three lines, the right brain sees a triangle.