Research Summary #1

Reading 1: One Brain or Two? (Hock, 2012)

Marianne Ziegler
 There are several researchers that are interested in the operations of the brain. This set of

researchers, Robert W. Sperry and Michael S. Gazzaniga, were interested in how the two

hemispheres of the brain communicate with each other and what the outcome would be if that

mode of communication was severed. They knew that each brain hemisphere has its own

operations and responsibilities and are continuously sharing information on its own highway, via

the corpus callosum, but they wanted to know how a brain, and then the body would perform if

that connection was severed, meaning they disconnect the two hemispheres by cutting the corpus

callosum. Each hemisphere would then have to function separately. Robert W. Sperry is

considered the founder of this specific field of research and began with animal subjects, but this

research was continued into human studies by Michael S. Gazzaniga.

The human testing of this research was done on patients that had undergone a radical

medical procedure that served to significantly reduce or eliminate severe and extreme epilepsy.

Their seizures were reduced or eliminated by surgically severing the corpus callosum of the

brain. Though successful, this operation is seen as a last resort for treatment. When this research

was being done in 1966 there had been ten cases for this operation, and four of those patients

agreed to be a part of this study. Because the patients asked to participate in this study had

previously had surgery for their epilepsy and not the purpose of this study and that there are only

four patients available, this makes this unique situation a set of case studies. Three types of tests

were developed for the human trials of this research. They would explore and measure the

capabilities of the subjects brains. One of the tests studied the visual capabilities of the brain by

strategically placing objects in front of the subjects so they could only be seen by one side of the

brain at a time. Another test was developed to explore the tactile interpretation of the brain by

allowing the subjects to touch items with only one hand without seeing them visually. The third
type of testing was auditory, which was more difficult to test because sound enters both ears and

the information travels to both sides of the brain. This auditory test involved asking the subjects

to blindly grab specific items by touch as well as to blindly name objects by touch.

Results of the surgery provided the patients from relief of their seizures and further study

of the cases showed that the subjects overall intelligence, personality, emotions, and other

aspects of their normal brain behavior remained unchanged while their seizures had been

eliminated as well. The results that Sperry and Gazzaniga discovered were that each half of the

brain has its own special skills and functions. They found that the left brain is for writing,

speaking, math calculation, reading, and is the center for language whereas the right brain is for

facial recognition, problem solving, reasoning, and artistic capabilities (Hock, 2012). Sperry and

Gazzaniga felt that each brain hemisphere was a separate mind of its own and that it is possible

even in a person without a severed corpus callosum for each hemisphere to sometimes not

understand the other. An example Gazzaniga provides is when a person feels sad but they are not

able to say why.

Using the research of Sperry and Gazzaniga as well as many others continuously helps us

to understand the brain and the way it works and opens the door for new and different research.

There are so many mental afflictions that could be cured with a better understanding the brain.

Research has already improved how stroke patients or victims of head trauma are treated.

Understanding the highways of the brain can also affect how we treat and determine other mental

disorders, or perhaps even find flags earlier that point to specific problems. There are many

different mental health issues such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, bi-polar

disorder to name a few. Research has already provided us with so much information that we are
able to try to help patients cope or recover, perhaps in the future research will show new ways to

treat or perhaps even prevent these disorders from happening and provide a better quality of life.

Referring to the textbook helped me better understand the properties of this case study.

These case studies have been used to verify what side of the brain is in control of our different

day to day activities by sending messages to only one side of the brain at a time. The left

hemisphere likes to analyze everything. The way we talk which is language and speech,

mathematical based thoughts which would be calculations as well as rhythm and our sense of

time, and any other thought process that requires logic. The right hemisphere likes to see the

whole picture; our perception, emotions, music, pattern and facial recognition (Ciccarelli &

White, 2015, p. 83).

While I have no intentions of going into psychology or any other mental health field, it is

useful to better understand how the brain works. I see patients every week that are having or

have had a stroke as well as patients that are experiencing or have experienced some type of head

trauma. Understanding how different situations can affect the brain in different ways is helpful in

understanding what is happening to the body. This also applies to my future in the nursing

program and all of the different experiences I will have during clinical.
 Works Cited

Ciccarelli, S. K., & White, J. N. (2015). Psychology. Boston: Pearson.

Hock, R. R. (2012). Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of

psychological research 7th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.