Which of the following best describes the effect that split brain surgery has on patients in their everyday lives?
A) They can only talk about objects seen in their right visual field.
B) They can point out objects they see in their right visual field but cannot name them.
C) They have difficulty separating what they see in each visual field.
D) The surgery has very little effect on their everyday lives.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Split brain surgery, which involves severing the corpus callosum to reduce the severity of epileptic seizures, generally has very little effect on patients' everyday lives. This is because the two hemispheres of the brain can still communicate through other pathways, and the brain is remarkably good at compensating for such changes. Most of the dramatic effects, such as the inability to name objects in the left visual field (because language functions are typically located in the left hemisphere), are observed only under specific test conditions. In everyday life, people rarely encounter situations where the information is strictly presented to only one hemisphere, allowing them to function normally.

Which of the Following Best Describes the Effect That Split