The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa (see picture right)- Therefore, a stroke which occurs in the right side of the brain will usually affect the left side of the body
- When describing a stroke one should always specify that the stroke has affected the left or the right side of the brain OR state which side the signs/symptoms are on.
- Simply saying that a person has a right sided or left sided stroke is uninformative, since it is unclear whether you are referring to the side of the symptoms or the brain lesion which caused them.
Page last reviewed: 19 Mar 2021
