lateralisation = both halves of the brain are functionally different and cognitive processes are specialised to one side
corpus callosum - 2 hemispheres connected through nerve fibres, allows for communication
sperry
researched epileptic patients whose hemispheres had been surgically separated - commussuratomy (corpus callosum is cut)
sperrys aim
the split brain lets researchers see if hemisphere works independently and which side is more specialised for certain functions
sperry’s method
images projected either to patients left visual field (processed by right side) or right visual field (processed by left side)
sperrys finding
when information is presented to one hemisphere in a split brain patient, the information is not transferred to the other hemisphere as the corpus callosum is cut
types of tasks
describe what you see - picture presented to visual field and patients asked to identify item
drawing task - picture presented and patients had to draw what they said
tactile test - object placed in visual field and patients had to describe what they felt
conclusion
left hemisphere is dominant in speech and language
right hemisphere is dominant in visual and motor tasks
✔️rogers et al - increases the ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously
found that in chickens‘ brain lateralisation is associated with an enhanced ability to perform 2 tasks simultaneously
