Hemispheric Lateralisation and Split-brain research

• What is the concept of lateralisation in the brain?

  Functional specialisation of the brain's two halves
• What is the role of the corpus callosum?

  It connects the two hemispheres for communication
• What happens when an image is placed in a split-brain patient's left visual field?

  Information is not transferred between hemispheres
• Which hemisphere controls the right side of the body?

  Left hemisphere
• Which hemisphere controls the left side of the body?

  Right hemisphere
• What could the right hemisphere do with information from the left visual field?

  Draw what it saw but not vocalise
• What could the left hemisphere do with visual information?

  Vocalise and draw, but less clearly
• Which hemisphere is dominant in speech and language?

  Left hemisphere
• Which hemisphere is dominant in visual motor tasks?

  Right hemisphere
• What are the ethical concerns regarding split-brain research?

  • Patients had extreme trauma before the study
  • Lengthy testing may cause psychological harm
  • Lack of full recovery could lead to stress
• What are the generalisation issues in split-brain studies?

  • Compared against neurotypical groups
  • None of the controls had epilepsy
  • Cognitive differences may stem from epilepsy, not split brain
• How do different hemispheres process tasks differently?

  • Different areas are activated for various tasks
  • PET scans show LH promotes finer details
  • RH promotes broader details
• How do processing differences between hemispheres operate?

  They operate independently based on task requirements