Biology and Human Behavior The article “One Brain or Two?” written by M.S. Gazzabiga (1967) dives into the physiological and biological psychology by researching the interaction of the brain and nervous system. This process includes receiving stimulation and information from the environment around you. The brain will organize all the information that it has collected through your senses. When the brain is done organizing the information through your senses it will take the information and create your personal perceptions of how you see the world. Inside the brain there are two halves that preform different functions. The left side controls the movement for the right side of the body and vice versa. These two hemispheres seem to have specialized abilities of their own also, for example, the left side of the brain controls our language while the right side controls your artistic abilities. “Many people believe that each half, or Hemisphere, of your brain may actually be completely separate mental system with its own individual abilities for
learning, remembering, perceiving the world, and even feeling emotions.” This research was started by Roger W. Sperry (19131994). His study subjects were animals of which he would cut the connection between the halves of the brain. He would then alter the optic nerve in a way so the left side of the brain would transmit to the left side and then the right side would transmit to the right side. Sperry decided to cut the corpus callosum, a structure that has around 200 million nerve fibers and if this structure is cut than the major line of communication is disrupted.
Method There are three ways to test the cognitive abilities of a patient; Visual, touch, and auditory. The visual patients were limited to transmitting the object to either the right or left side hemisphere. In the touch test, a screen was placed in
front of the patient, so that they could only feel what the object was. Auditory testing is harder to test because when the sound enters your ear, the sensations are sent to both sides of the brain. It is however possible to limit the response to one brain hemisphere by having a patient reaches into a bag to find a certain item
Significant Findings What remained unchanged during these tests was the patient's personality, intellectual level, and emotional reactions. There was evidence to support that the two halves of the brain had specialized skills. The left side controlled your speaking, writing, mathematical abilities along with writing. The right side showed that it has the capabilities to recognize faces, problem solve with reasoning and holds your artistic abilities. Overall, the research supported that there are two different hemispheres within the cranium. They each have their own complex abilities.