Hemispheric lateralisation: split brain research Flashcards
what is lateralisation
the idea that the two halves of the human brain are not exactly alike
what are the two hemispheres joined by
corpus callosum
what does the corpus callosum do
allow each side of the brain to communicate with eachother
what does the left hemisphere control
language and speech
what does the right hemisphere do
deals with visual and spatial tasks
where does the left visual field send information to
right brain
where does the right visual field send information to
left brain
What is the conclusion of sperrys split brain research
shows the two hemispheres are different - right specialises in visual tasks and left controls speech and language
procedure of sperrys research
11 split-brain individuals were studied using a special set up in which an image or word could be projected to a participant’s RVF (processed by the LH) and the same, or different, image could be projected to the LVF (processed by the RH)
- in a normal brain the corpus callosum would share the information
findings of sperrys research
When a picture of an object was shown to a participant’s RVF, the participant could describe what was seen. But they could not do this if the object was shown to the LVF (RH) — they said there was ‘nothing there’. This is because, in the normal brain, messages from the RH are relayed to the language centres in the LH, but this is not possible in the split-brai
evaluation of sperrys research into hemispheric lateralisation
can’t be generalised - turk et al found that a patient learnt to speak out of their right hemisphere
What is maguires research into brain plasticity
studied the brains of london taxi drivers
- structural MRI scans
- 16 right handed make london taxi drivers that had been driving for more than 1.5 years
- scans of healthy right handed males were included for comparison
finding of maguires research
more volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus which is associated with the development of navigational skills in humans
A03 of maguires study
can’t be generalised - all males
reliable - used scientific procedures
can be applied to real world
low population validity
