ROGER W.
SPERRY
SPLIT- BRAIN PREPARATION
ROGER WOLCOTT SPERRY
Sperry was born in Hartford, Connecticut, August 20, 1913
He went to Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut, then graduated
with scholarship to Oberlin College where he received his bachelors in
English in 1935, and a masters degree in psychology in 1937
He later received his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Chicago
In 1942, he began work at the Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology which
was then a part of Harvard University.
ROGER WOLCOTT SPERRY
In 1952, he became the Section Chief of Neurological Diseases and
Blindness at the National Institutes of Health.
In 1954, he accepted a position as a professor at the California
Institute of Technology California where he performed his most
famous experiments.
Sperry shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1981
for his split-brain research
He died On April 17, 1994
2 CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES
CORPUS CALLOSUM
• large bundle of neurons
• The corpus callosum
forms a bridge that
connects the left and right
hemispheres
CORPUS COLOSTOMY
• Used to treat severe
epilepsy
• Disables
communication
between the left and
right hemispheres
SPLIT BRAIN PREPARATION
In the 1960’s, Roger Sperry carried out experiments
concerning the left and right hemispheres of the brain and
their functions called the split brain experiment.
The studies demonstrated that the “left and right hemispheres
specialized in different tasks.”
SPLIT BRAIN PREPARATION
Sperry (1968) used a quasi experiment in a laboratory
11 Participants - All the participants were epileptics had
previously undergone commissurotomies to deal with their
severe epileptic convulsions.
PROCEDURES
Visual Fields Sperry (1968)
We have two visual fields.
These visual fields should not
be confused with our two eyes.
The left visual field, is what we can see on
our left and the right visual field is what
we can see on our right.
VISUAL TASK
Sperry used a tachistoscope to
present visual stimuli to the
participants. The tachistoscope has
a focal point in the middle and two
areas where stimuli was presented.
The participants using the
tachistoscope would have one eye
covered and were instructed to stare
at the focal point.
SPLIT BRAIN PREPARATION
• Information presented to the right visual field (left hemisphere)
could be described in speech and writing (with the right hand).
• If the same information is presented to the left visual field
(right hemisphere), the participant insisted he either did not see
anything that is, the information could not be described in
speech or writing.
• However, the participant could point with his left hand
(controlled by the right hemisphere) to a matching picture /
object presented among a collection of pictures / objects.
TACTILE TASK
participants would put their hands
under the tachistoscope such that
they could reach the objects. The
participants’ hands were then
covered. This was a control to
ensure there was no visual stimuli
going to either hemisphere and thus
could not confound upon the results
• Objects placed in the right hand (left
hemisphere) could be described in speech
or writing.
• If the same objects were placed in the left
hand (right hemisphere) participants could
only make wild guesses and often seemed
unaware they were holding anything.
SPLIT BRAIN PREPARATION
The data collected from split‐brain experiments is vast and has
spanned over four decades. The experiments demonstrated that the
two hemispheres of the “brain learn independently after being
severed and no longer share information with one another.”
The left hemisphere is dominant over analytical and verbal tasks
while the right hemisphere handles spatial, visual, and emotional
tasks.
SPLIT BRAIN PREPARATION
Due to the testing of various hemispheres, Sperry and his
peers have been able to contribute to our understanding of
how the different hemispheres function and what the roles
and responsibilities of each hemisphere are in a normal
healthy brain. This knowledge can be quite helpful in
diagnosing many neurological, medical, and learning
issues.
