Split Brain Patients

The human forebrain can be divided up into a number of component parts. For example, there are the occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes, comprising the left and right hemispheres. Covering these lobes is the cerebral cortex. The cortex is further subdivided into organized columns. The columns form a distributed system in which information flow can be channeled through a number of different pathways.

Some of the pathways through which information passes through the brain occur as cables of neurons, or commissures. The most important of these commissures is the corpus callosum. It serves as the major connection between the hemispheres.

For people who suffer from intractable epileptic seizure, one therapeutic approach is to cut the corpus callosum. While these "splitbrain" patients appear to be virtually unchanged in personality, intelligence, and behavior, various tests do demonstrate a change in consciousness and thought patterns.

For instance, a splitbrain patient was asked to stare straight ahead at a dot while different images were flashed in her right and left visual fields. When a picture of a cup was flashed in the subject's right visual field, she was able to report the observation. This is because the picture was processed in the patient's left hemisphere. Since the left hemisphere is responsible for language, the patient was able t

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