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separationwhich imagines a world where a person's work and personal life are surgically separated, returns on Friday for its long-awaited second season. Although the concept of this intriguing piece of science fiction seems far-fetched, it touches on a question that neuroscience has been trying to answer for decades: Can a person's brain actually be divided into two parts?
Notably, “split-brain” patients exist. since the 1940sTo control epilepsy symptoms, these patients underwent surgery to separate the left and right hemispheres. similar surgery still happens today,
later research This type of surgery showed that the different hemispheres of split brain patients could process information independently. This raises the uneasy possibility that this process creates two separate brains living in one brain.
in season one separationHaley R. (Britt Lower) experiences conflict between her “Innie” (the side of her mind that remembers her work life) and her “Outie” (the side outside of work). Similarly, there is evidence Of conflict between the two hemispheres of actual split brain patients.
When talking to split brain patients, you are usually communicating with the left hemisphere of the brain, which controls speech. However, some patients can communicate with their right hemisphere by, for example, writing or arranging Scrabble letters.
a young patient in a study He was asked what job he would like in the future. His left hemisphere chose the office work of making technical drawings. However, his right hemisphere arranged the letters to write “Automobile Racer”.
Split-brain patients have also reported “alien hand syndromeWhere one of his hands appears to be moving of its own will. These observations suggest that two different conscious “people” can coexist in one brain and have conflicting goals.
In separationHowever, both Ini and Outi have access to speech. This is an indicator that the hypothetical “dissociation process” must involve a more complex dissociation of brain networks.
An example of complex separation of functions was described Neil's case reportIn 1994. Neil was a teenage boy who had many difficulties after a pineal gland tumor. One of these difficulties was a rare form of amnesia. This meant that Neil could not recall the events of his day or give details of what he had learned at school. He also became unable to read, although he could write, and he was also unable to name objects, although he could draw them.
Amazingly, Neil was able to continue his education. Researchers became interested in how he was able to complete his schoolwork despite having no memory of what he was learning. They questioned him about a novel he was reading in school, cider with rosé By Laurie Lee. During the conversation, Neil could not remember anything about the book, not even the title. But when a researcher asked Neal to write down everything he could remember about the book, he wrote, “Bloodshot Geranium Windows cider with rosy geraniums, the smell of damp pepper.” [sic] And the growth of mushrooms”-all words related to the novel. Since Neil could not read, he had to ask the researcher: “What did I write?”