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Abstract:
A major focus of split-brain research has been the search for
information transfer between the hemispheres. This area of research
has been contentious, with some researchers reporting evidence of
limited transfer of information between the hemispheres, while
others dispute these claims citing potentially flawed methodology.
Kingstone & Gazzaniga (1995) investigated this issue in patient
J.W., who has a complete callosotomy verified by post-surgical MRI.
They demonstrated that evidence suggesting transfer of semantic
information in this patient was illusory and that there was no
evidence for the transfer of information between the two
hemispheres. We applied a similar methodology to investigate
interhemispheric transfer in a second callosotomy patient, V.P.
Although previous findings with V.P. have consistently failed to
show any interhemispheric transfer of perceptual information,
post-surgical MRI has revealed spared callosal fibers in both the
splenium and the rostrum that could potentially support
interhemispheric transfer. We found no evidence for any transfer of
perceptual transfer, but there was robust evidence for transfer of
higher-order information. This suggests that although the spared
fibers in the splenium are not sufficient for transfer of visual
information, the sparing in the rostrum may be able to support
transfer of other types of information.
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