Split Brain Research

Question 1

What is split brain?

Answer 1

A surgery to cut the area that connects the two hemispheres of the brain (corpus callosum)

Question 2

Which part of the brain does split brain sugary cut in two?

Answer 2

Corpus callosum

Question 3

What is split brain surgery usually used to treat?

Answer 3

Epilepsy

Question 4

What’s the side effect of split brain surgery?

Answer 4

The two hemispheres become functionally separate - act as two separate independent brains

Question 5

What was the aim of split brain research?

Answer 5

To investigate the effect of severing the connection between two hemispheres of the brain (corpus callosum) on functioning

Question 6

What was the method?

Answer 6

Natural experiment

Question 7

What was the sample?

Answer 7

11 ppts who has their corpus callosum split due to surgery

Question 8

What’s the procedure of the research?

Answer 8

Ppts sit in front of screen, fix their gaze on a spot in middle. Ppts presented with visual information to either right or left visual field for 1/10th of a second (so there’s not enough time for other visual field to switch focus to the visual image)

Question 9

Results of the research -
Objects seen in right visual field can be named….

Answer 9

Verbally and in writing as image has been processed by the language centers in the left side of the brain

Question 10

Results of the research -
Objects seen in left visual field can be identified by….

Answer 10

Pointing but cannot be named

Question 11

Conclusion of the research

Answer 11

• Two hemispheres have different abilities and functions, only left can produce language
• Right hemisphere can recall and identify information, cannot be verbalized