Split Brain Experiments: Two brains in one head?
(chosen for Sept 21 discussion)

In the 1960s, a treatment for epileptic patients involved the removal of the corpus callosum, a bundle of nerves that allow the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate with each other. Using these patients, Roger Sperry conducted a series of simple but ingenious experiments to demonstrate that the two hemispheres of the brain work independently to receive and react to information. For example, when an object was presented to the left hemisphere, subjects could name it. When the object was presented to the right hemisphere, subjects claimed not to have seen anything. However, they could use their left hand (which is controlled by the right brain) to draw the object. This suggested that the left brain is dominant for speech while the right brain is important for nonverbal communication. For the next 25 years Sperry further elucidated the unique functions of the left and right brains, and earned the Nobel Prize in 1981. 

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