The Strange World of Split-brain Patients: In Search of the Interpreter of Our Actions
Jose Luis Perez Velazquez, Vera Nenadovic
Being and becoming January 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-78264-1_3 (opens in new tab) via Springer Nature
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractSplit-brain patients, whose corpus callosum has been severed, provide evidence that the sense of a unified self and the feeling of free will may be illusions. The chapter reviews how each hemisphere can act independently, yet the left hemisphere constructs post-hoc explanations for behaviors initiated by the right hemisphere, suggesting that conscious will is often a narrative interpretation rather than the cause of action. These cases challenge the notion of a single, integrated self and raise questions about the nature of consciousness and agency.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Split-brain patients |
| Keywords | Free will Split brain Neurostimulation Callosotomy Self-awareness |
| Key finding | Split-brain cases suggest that the unified self and the experience of free will may be illusions, as the left hemisphere fabricates explanations for actions it did not initiate. |
Abstract
This chapter reviews the split-brain cases in what they have to say about the self and the illusion of free will.