Split-brain Research into Hemispheric Lateralisation

Question 1

What is hemispheric lateralisation?

Answer 1

Concerns behaviour controlled by just one hemisphere.

Question 2

Give an example of hemispheric lateralisation.

Answer 2

Language - usually controlled by the left hemisphere.

Question 3

Outline the study which proved hemispheric lateralisation.

Answer 3

Sperry tested epileptic patients.

1. An image is presented to a patient’s RVH (processed by LH) and another image to the LVF (RH).
2. In the object shown to RVF -> patient easily describes what’s seen. But in the LVF -> patient says there’s nothing there.

This is because they can’t describe objects in the LVF because the RH lacks a visual centre. And messages received by the RH are normally relayed via the corpus callous to language centres in the LH.

Question 4

What is the importance of the corpus callosum?

Answer 4

This connects the two hemispheres. Sometimes cut to control epileptic seizures.