Commissurotomy
Polly Henninger
Oxford University Press eBooks January 26, 2023 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199765683.013.19 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients who have undergone commissurotomy or callosotomy (split-brain subjects) |
| Key findings | The chapter reviews evidence from split-brain patients, describing how severing the corpus callosum prevents seizure generalization and produces distinct lateralized visual and visuospatial processing. It discusses Caltech research using the Z lens and lateral limits techniques, and examines the debate over whether the intact brain has unified or dual consciousness. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter discusses findings from patients who have undergone commissurotomy and callosotomy using lateralization techniques. Commissurotomy is a neurosurgical procedure that aims to prevent seizure activity from generalizing from one hemisphere across the corpus callosum to the other. Complete commissurotomy patients are known as split-brain subjects. The chapter first reviews the history of commissurotomy before providing an overview of commissurotomy and callosotomy. It then considers how the surgical procedure is performed, the ramifications of a split brain, and split-brain research undertaken at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena (Caltech). It also examines the use of Z lens and lateral limits techniques to test visual functions in split-brain patients, and visuospatial processing and information processing styles in commissurotomy subjects. Finally, the chapter analyzes consciousness in the split brain versus intact brain, the debate over whether the intact brain has unified or dual consciousness, and studies of the corpus callosum.