One Brain or Two? (Psychology) Essay

According to the theory of lateralisation developed by Robert Sperry and Robert Ornstein, the cerebral cortex in the two hemispheres perform the same motor and sensory functions but each of the hemisphere is specialized for different tasks. As the brain develops, the left hemisphere is superior in doing tasks that involve speech, language, reading, and writing. The right hemisphere shows superiority in tasks that involves creativity, intuition, facial recognition, non-verbal imagery, musical recognition, sense of direction, play and sports, learning experience and risk-taking. Lateralisation is developed for the task that is done, that is the right hemisphere is used for a particular function. This decision is influenced by genetics, childhood learning experiences and

“The Human Brain”, by myPerspectives, is an informative article that claims that the brain is a complex organ that is truly impressive. The brain is a key part of the central nervous system, that controls the entire body’s activities, to simple things such as breathing. These actions are fired through neurons, that quickly travel through the spinal cord. Surprisingly, the brain transmits these messages at an unimaginable rate, at 150 miles per hour, through 85 billion cells, called neurons. These neurons can form up to 10,000 synapses, or connections to each other. By itself, the brain can create billions of synapses, which change the structure of the brain every time new information is learned. However, there is still much that scientists

I started my education in Erie, Pennslyviana.I attend McDowell High. I would say that we were one of the richer schools were I live. I am going to talk about my first assignment Brainology. I thought it was very interesting and it thought me a lot about how some people have different mindsets.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the correlational method as a means for examining the relationship between functions of the left and right hemispheres. I will compare the performance of people with intact brains with the performance of so-called split-brain patients. In many ways, the brains of these two groups are very similar. 1a. The brain stem is found in the deepest part of the brain. The brainstem controls the automatic survival functions of the body, such as breathing. There are no differences between the function of the normal brainstem and the brain of a split brain patient. The brainstem will still supply the automatic survival functions of the body. 1b. The hippocampus is found in the limbic system along with the amygdala, the hypothalamus. The hippocampus is in charge of allowing the body to process information into memories. Without the hippocampus, there is no way for new memories to be created. There is no anatomical difference between the hippocampus in the normal brain and a split brain. 1c. The corpus callosum is found in the center of the brain. The role it plays as a part of the brain is it connects both the left and right hemispheres of the brain, allowing them to work and interact together as a whole system. The difference between the anatomy of the corpus callosum in a split brain patient versus someone without a

Roger Sperry was a psychologist and neuroscientist whose main work focused on the left and right hemispheres of the brain (Hockenbury and Hockenbury 2014). Roger Sperry’s area of research was categorized as neurophysiology. Sperry’s most famous research dealt with split-brain operations where the corpus callosum has been completely severed (Hockenbury and Hockenbury 2014). The corpus callosum consists of a bundle of neurons that are responsible for the communication between the two hemispheres of the brain. The severance of the corpus callosum was performed in order to treat severe epileptic seizures, which are caused by the unpredictable firing of neurons in one hemisphere transducing to the other hemisphere (Hockenbury and Hockenbury 2014). The separation of the corpus callosum prevents the random firing of neurons caused by epilepsy in one hemisphere from reaching the other hemisphere. The split-brain operations allowed Sperry the opportunity to study the independence and functionality of each hemisphere. Sperry’s early life and education took him on a journey that would lead to split-brain research, the Nobel Prize, and future researchers expanding on his work and knowledge.

They also have trouble learning to perform new tasks that require interdependent movement of each hand, like playing the piano. This finding helped conclude that the corpus callosum helps in transfer of information and it is the co-ordination between the two hemispheres that lets us perform activities smoothly. The split of the two hemispheres ultimately made it so you cannot access information the other side of the brain controls. Now, Gazzaniga works at University of California, Santa Barbara teaching psychology so he can pass on knowledge to his students. Gazzaniga and his team of researchers are testing information transfer using a MEG, which maps the brain activity by recording magnetic fields produced by electrical currents in the brain. Unlike split-brain surgery these techniques are non-invasive. He has made many books explaining his work and making information about brain function more accessible to the public. Gazzaniga deserves to be in the Hall of Fame due to his amazing contribution to psychology, his continued efforts in the field, and his willingness to share his findings to educate

Describe how an understanding of both a normally functioning brain and a split brain enables us to better appreciate the fact that most information processing takes place outside of

As shown in the chart, the split brain has a low correlation than the intact brain, which has a higher correlation. This proves that a person with a split brain cannot process information to the left and right. Face recognition is in the right side of the brain while vocabulary and reasoning in the left side of the brain. When comparing face and reasoning it only gave a low correlation same with face and vocabulary. Vocabulary and reasoning is in the left hemisphere, therefore, being a bit more stronger than the rest of the results. In the intact brain reasoning, vocabulary, and face are being processed to the left and right showing that they are laterized.

Using a real human brain, Dr. Taylor explained the separation of the brain’s right and left hemispheres. The two cerebral cortices are completely separate from one another, but maintain communication via the corpus callosum. She described the right hemisphere as a parallel processor, thinking in images and learning from body movement. The right hemisphere is responsible for gathering sensory input, in the form of energy, from the environment around us. The left hemisphere, according to Dr. Taylor, is a serial processor, interpreting the sensory information gathered by the right hemisphere. The sensory information is analyzed and categorized by the linear and methodical thinking of the left hemisphere. Dr. Taylor believes the left hemisphere is responsible for interpretation of the past and future, as well as, an individual’s self-awareness. The

The brain is one of the most complicated things ever researched. Typically the brain is split into two halves. The left side of a person’s brain is used for critical and analytical thinking. When the brain is faced with a serious problem the left brain

Mead & Hampson (1996) developed a study involving the divided visual field paradigm and a phonological rhyme/non-rhyme task to test the speed and accurateness of either side of the brain. This study was used to investigate functional asymmetry between the left and right hemispheres in phonological processing. The research was taken out equally on 15 male and 15 females London Metropolitan University students ranging from ages 18 – 35 years old. They were all specifically chosen to be right–handed and had English as their first language thus providing a fair experiment to see whether our left hemisphere (left side of the brain) or the right hemisphere is faster and more accurate. In conclusion using the mean and standard

For many decades people have been considered to be either right or left side dominant in regards to brain function which came with defined roles such as “creative” or “analytical”. This thinking tends to be over-simplified as most people use their entire brains daily (Jensen, 2010). On the other hand people do use different parts of their brain for different tasks according to how they perceive those tasks.

My understanding of both a normal function brain and split brain allows us to appreciate the fact that much of our processing takes place outside of conscious awareness is that since our brain keep working and keep processing the information, even though some of us have split brain due to some disease call epilepsy (seizure), it allow us to realize that it won’t stop the brain to work from having a split brain but maybe it will give us some kind of abilities to do something that a normal function brain person can’t do. We only have one brain but for those who have seizure, the corpus callosum are being cut to make it go way. The cerebral hemispheres are divide into two hemisphere right and left and they communicate with each other through some

Left-right brain dominance is about the fact that the distinct hemispheres influence thinking. The left hemisphere is associated with logical, analytical thinking and a linear approach to problem solving. The right hemisphere is associated with creative, intuitive and value-based thought process. It is important to note that everyone uses its both hemispheres, but to varying degrees. Four quadrants of the brain, related to different thinking style, have been identified:

In the right visual field, the word goes to the left hemisphere and is directly identified there. When a word is shown in the left visual field, it goes to the right hemisphere. From there, the word passes through the corpus callosum to be identified in the left hemisphere. Researchers have found a slight advantage in the left hemisphere in word recognition. The transferring of information from the right side of the brain to the corpus callosum and then to the left side of the brain can mix the information seen. It can result in poor identification/clarity of words shown in left hemisphere of the