Can this concentration exercise improve cooperation between the left and right hemisphere?

Question

This exercise aims to stimulate and practice the communication between both hemispheres of the brain, thereby increasing the "processing power" of your conscious activity.

https://thiaoouba.com/concentration-exercise/

The task is to look at the two circles cross-eyed so they overlap in the middle, and to concentrate on that image.

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If you try it, you'll see that the middle circle is unstable, with one of the two circles overlapping the other, but the goal is to see both of them at once. Since the right visual field goes to the left brain and vice versa, being able to combine the two conflicting images into one circle with a cross should improve the communication between the two brain hemispheres.

Is there any validity to this?

Looks like the one statement in your link that's connected to any sort of supporting evidence links to a "file not found" page, so... What do you think? — Bryan Krause, Dec 11 '22 at 19:39
@BryanKrause I believe the link is supposed to lead to https://thiaoouba.com/conscious-aura-control/, which describes the intensity of a measurement akin to Kirlian photography increasing while doing his exercise. No external sources though. — Philips Screwdriver, Dec 11 '22 at 21:32
@PhilipsScrewdriver Looks like a bunch of snake oil to me. You could ask about aspects on Skeptics.SE maybe, certainly doesn't seem intriguing enough to me to bother with. — Bryan Krause, Dec 11 '22 at 22:36
@BryanKrause I can already guess what 'skeptics' have to say about it. Thank you for answering — Philips Screwdriver, Dec 11 '22 at 23:04

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 11 '22 at 19:48

I doubt there is much about this specific situation, but see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_training for a broader discussion:

Scientific investigation into the effectiveness of brain training activities have concluded that they have no impact on intelligence or everyday cognitive ability, and that most programs had no peer reviewed published evidence of their efficacy.

This is not well-referenced on Wikipedia, but I think there is a very clear lesson: if someone wants to make a claim that something they offer is useful, they need to provide evidence. No one else needs to bother to show it doesn't work, and if the person trying to sell you on something doesn't bother to actually study the thing they're claiming, then they don't have any idea whether it works, either.

It's important that any evidence provided actually tests the claim being made. Generally speaking, you can "train" your brain doing any task, and more time spent on a task will tend to make you better at that task. So, if you design a visual task that requires both hemispheres to be involved, and requires some communication between them, you can probably design an experiment to measure that activity and that communication. Does that mean "communication between hemispheres improved?" Not necessarily, it just means you've found a task where both hemispheres are involved. If you train your brain to cross your eyes, will it get easier to cross your eyes? Probably. Will it help you solve math problems? Probably not. If someone says "increasing the "processing power" of your conscious activity" you should be thinking "How do they define 'processing power'? What practical use have they connected this to? What actual benefit has been demonstrated?" The phrase is meaningless without definition.

I agree, but unfortunately this is a niche exercise without a name, so I can't even find anyone talking about it except for the stated website and some old message boards. — Philips Screwdriver, Dec 11 '22 at 21:36
@PhilipsScrewdriver Again, it's the job of the person trying to sell you on it that it's worthwhile. If they haven't bothered to take the time and it's their thing, why should anyone else? — Bryan Krause, Dec 11 '22 at 22:37

Can this concentration exercise improve cooperation between the left and right hemisphere?

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