Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Tactual and auditory vigilance in split-brain man

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry

|January 1, 1979

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The right hemisphere excels in sustained attention tasks compared to the left in split-brain patients. Gaps in attention predominantly affect the left hemisphere, indicating unique attentional deficits.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

A reappraisal of the concept of cerebral dominance.

Journal of motor behavior·2013

Same author

Differences in face touching by Japanese and British people.

Neuropsychologia·1984

Same author

The inferential interference effects of environmental sounds on spoken speech in Japanese and British people.

Brain and language·1981

Same author

Some failures of intermanual and cross-lateral transfer in chronic schizophrenia.

Journal of abnormal psychology·1980

Same author

Comparison of lateral differences for digit and random form recognition in Japanese and Westerners.

Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance·1980

Same author

Callosal transfer and left-hand anomia in schizophrenia.

Biological psychiatry·1979

Same journal

Global epidemiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry·2026

Same journal

Diagnostic accuracy of a two-cut-off approach using the FAQ/MMSE ratio and FAQ for clinical preselection of patients for anti-amyloid therapy.

Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry·2026

Same journal

Cancer risk and mortality in patients with multiple sclerosis in Finland: a retrospective population-based cohort study.

Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry·2026

Same journal

Visuospatial working memory in Huntington's disease: behavioural and structural brain correlates.

Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry·2026

Same journal

Characteristics and outcomes in electric scooter-related traumatic brain injuries in Helsinki.

Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry·2026

Same journal

Chronological ageing and ovarian reserve in MS: insights from anti-Müllerian hormone and disability progression.

Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry·2026

See all related articles

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Neurology

Background:

Split-brain (or partial commissurotomy) patients offer a unique model to study hemispheric attentional functions.
Understanding hemispheric differences in attention is crucial for diagnosing and treating attentional disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the attentional behavior of the right and left hemispheres in split-brain patients.
To identify attention deficits potentially linked to the division of cerebral commissures.

Main Methods:

Two studies assessed tactual and auditory vigilance performance in patients with split-brain or partial commissurotomy.
Performance metrics focused on sustained attention and responses to signal switching.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

The right hemisphere demonstrated significantly better performance on sustained attention tasks than the left hemisphere.
The split-brain group exhibited considerable depletion in concentration, unlike the partial commissurotomy group.
Attention lapses were predominantly observed in the left hemisphere, lasting several seconds.

Conclusions:

Hemispheric specialization extends to sustained attention, with the right hemisphere being more proficient.
Split-brain conditions can lead to significant attentional deficits, particularly affecting the left hemisphere.
These findings suggest attention failures are specific to individual hemispheres in the split-brain condition.