Split Brain
Summary
There is a powerful need for people to engage in social kinds of processing. This ability can break down in those individuals with certain neurological and psychiatric illnesses. What is it about their brains that is dysfunctional, that gives rise to the impairments that they have in social behavior?
Everyone has a split brain. Our activities are not connected by one brain, but by two interconnected half brains, or hemispheres, each of which processes information separately and then communicates that information appropriately, through the corpus callosum. The left hemisphere takes on functions of sequential analysis, spatial analysis, and language (reasoning). The right hemisphere is the seat of more emotional aspects – happiness, sadness, disgust (imagination). If the corpus callosum is cut (as for example to treat epilepsy), there is a disconnect between the functions of the two hemispheres. Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (ACC) is a rare condition in which an individual is born without this “main thoroughfare.” People who lack this communication between the two hemispheres have difficulty with social processing.
Keywords: split brain, Corpus Callosum, ACC, reasoning, imagination
