TY - JOUR
T1 - Split-Brain
T2 - What We Know Now and Why This is Important for Understanding Consciousness
AU - de Haan, Edward H.F.
AU - Corballis, Paul M.
AU - Hillyard, Steven A.
AU - Marzi, Carlo A.
AU - Seth, Anil
AU - Lamme, Victor A.F.
AU - Volz, Lukas
AU - Fabri, Mara
AU - Schechter, Elizabeth
AU - Bayne, Tim
AU - Corballis, Michael
AU - Pinto, Yair
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - Recently, the discussion regarding the consequences of cutting the corpus callosum (“split-brain”) has regained momentum (Corballis, Corballis, Berlucchi, & Marzi, Brain, 141(6), e46, 2018; Pinto et al., Brain, 140(5), 1231–1237, 2017a; Pinto, Lamme, & de Haan, Brain, 140(11), e68, 2017; Volz & Gazzaniga, Brain, 140(7), 2051–2060, 2017; Volz, Hillyard, Miller, & Gazzaniga, Brain, 141(3), e15, 2018). This collective review paper aims to summarize the empirical common ground, to delineate the different interpretations, and to identify the remaining questions. In short, callosotomy leads to a broad breakdown of functional integration ranging from perception to attention. However, the breakdown is not absolute as several processes, such as action control, seem to remain unified. Disagreement exists about the responsible mechanisms for this remaining unity. The main issue concerns the first-person perspective of a split-brain patient. Does a split-brain harbor a split consciousness or is consciousness unified? The current consensus is that the body of evidence is insufficient to answer this question, and different suggestions are made with respect to how future studies might address this paucity. In addition, it is suggested that the answers might not be a simple yes or no but that intermediate conceptualizations need to be considered.
AB - Recently, the discussion regarding the consequences of cutting the corpus callosum (“split-brain”) has regained momentum (Corballis, Corballis, Berlucchi, & Marzi, Brain, 141(6), e46, 2018; Pinto et al., Brain, 140(5), 1231–1237, 2017a; Pinto, Lamme, & de Haan, Brain, 140(11), e68, 2017; Volz & Gazzaniga, Brain, 140(7), 2051–2060, 2017; Volz, Hillyard, Miller, & Gazzaniga, Brain, 141(3), e15, 2018). This collective review paper aims to summarize the empirical common ground, to delineate the different interpretations, and to identify the remaining questions. In short, callosotomy leads to a broad breakdown of functional integration ranging from perception to attention. However, the breakdown is not absolute as several processes, such as action control, seem to remain unified. Disagreement exists about the responsible mechanisms for this remaining unity. The main issue concerns the first-person perspective of a split-brain patient. Does a split-brain harbor a split consciousness or is consciousness unified? The current consensus is that the body of evidence is insufficient to answer this question, and different suggestions are made with respect to how future studies might address this paucity. In addition, it is suggested that the answers might not be a simple yes or no but that intermediate conceptualizations need to be considered.
KW - Consciousness agents
KW - Epilepsy
KW - Lateralization
KW - Split-brain
KW - Visual perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084668147&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11065-020-09439-3
DO - 10.1007/s11065-020-09439-3
M3 - Review Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084668147
VL - 30
SP - 224
EP - 233
JO - Neuropsychology Review
JF - Neuropsychology Review
SN - 1040-7308
IS - 2
ER -