Hemispheric lateralisation + split brain research

• Which hemisphere is primarily responsible for language in most people?

  Left hemisphere
• Where is Broca's area located?

  Left frontal lobe
• Where is Wernicke's area located?

  Left temporal lobe
• What does it mean that language is lateralised?

  It is performed by one hemisphere
• How do the left and right hemispheres differ in function?

  LH is the analyser, RH is the synthesiser
• Which functions are not lateralised in the brain?

  Vision, motor, and somatosensory areas
• What is contralateral wiring in the brain?

  RH controls left body movement, LH controls right
• How do the left and right visual fields connect to the hemispheres?

  LVF connects to RH, RVF connects to LH
• What is a 'split-brain' operation?

  Severing corpus callosum between RH and LH
• Why is a split-brain operation performed?

  To reduce epilepsy by cutting connections
• What does split-brain research study?

  How hemispheres function without communication
• Who devised a system to study split-brain functions?

  Roger Sperry
• What was the procedure in Sperry's research?

  11 people

  Images projected to RVF and LVF separately

  information isn’t conveyed from one hemisphere to the other
• What happens when an object is shown to the RVF of a split-brain participant?


  They can describe what was seen
• What happens when an object is shown to the LVF of a split-brain participant?


  They report seeing 'nothing there'
• How can split-brain participants respond to objects shown in the LVF?

  By selecting a matching object with the left hand
• What do Sperry's findings suggest about brain lateralisation?

  LH is verbal, RH is 'silent' but emotional
• What did Gereon Fink et al. (1996) find about hemispheric processing?

  Hemispheres process information differently even when connected
• What happens when participants focus on global elements of an image?

  RH regions are more active
• What happens when participants focus on finer details of an image?

  LH areas tend to dominate
• What is a limitation of the idea of LH as analyser and RH as synthesiser?

  People do not have a dominant brain side
• What did Michael Gazzaniga's research find about split-brain participants?

  They perform better on certain tasks than controls
• What is a limitation of Sperry's research regarding control groups?

  Control group participants did not have epilepsy
• What does the confounding variable of epilepsy imply for Sperry's findings?


  Differences may be due to epilepsy, not split brain
• What is Kim Peek known for in relation to split-brain research?

  He had exceptional memory abilities
• What does the term 'corpus callosum' refer to?


  The structure connecting the two hemispheres
• How does the split-brain operation affect communication between hemispheres?

  It prevents communication between RH and LH
• What is the main purpose of split-brain research?

  To understand lateralisation of brain functions
• What is the role of the left hand in split-brain participants?

  It is linked to the RH for object selection
• What does the emotional reaction to LVF stimuli indicate?

  RH processes emotional content
• What does the term 'lateralisation' refer to in psychology?

  Specialization of functions in different hemispheres
• How does the brain's wiring affect motor control?

  Each hemisphere controls opposite body sides
• What is the significance of the visual cortex in processing visual information?

  It integrates visual input from both hemispheres
• What does the term 'ipsilateral' mean in the context of visual processing?

  Same-sided connection to the hemisphere
• How does the brain process auditory information?

  It compares inputs from both ears for location
• What is the role of the corpus callosum?

  Connects the left and right hemispheres
• What does the term 'cross-wired' refer to in brain function?

  Contralateral control of body movements
• What is the impact of lateralisation on cognitive tasks?

  Different hemispheres may excel in different tasks
• How does the brain's lateralisation affect emotional processing?

  RH contributes emotional context to language
• What does the term 'visual field' refer to?

  Area of vision processed by the brain