American English takes a slightly different approach to the agreement of verbs with collective nouns. There is a very strong preference for the use of singular verbs with such nouns, so in American English you are much more likely to see, for example:
By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD. The human brain is divided into two hemispheres. The left hemisphere is the logical brain and is involved in language and analysis and the right hemisphere is the creative brain, involved in daydreaming and imagination. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body while the right hemisphere controls the left side.
A new study shows that writing and speaking are quasi-independent language systems in the brain. Written and spoken language can exist separately in the brain, a new study from Johns Hopkins shows. The study looked at stroke victims with aphasia that impaired their communication capabilities in one way but not the other. Researchers at Johns Hopkins, Rice and Columbia universities studied five stroke patients with aphasia, difficulty communicating after their strokes.