Split-Brain

Synonyms

Callosal disconnection syndrome; Commissurotomy; Hemispheric disconnection

Definition

Split-Brain is a condition resulting from surgical lesioning of all or a substantial portion of the corpus callosum, with or without sectioning of other commissures, thus interrupting the normal flow of information between the two hemispheres of the brain. While carried out experimentally in animals, in humans such relatively drastic surgical procedures are quite rare. The most common indication is to help control otherwise intractable generalized tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures.

Historical Background

Around the turn of the twentieth century, Hugo Liepmann, a German neurologist, described a right-handed, right-hemiplegic patient who had difficulty executing verbal commands, writing, or correctly demonstrate the use of tools with his left hand. Upon subsequently discovering the patient had a lesion involving the corpus callosum, Liepmann postulated that the memory for skilled movements must...