A&P 4.2 (part 2: brain lateralization)

large bundle of neural fibers made up of myelinated axons or white matter which connect the two brain hemispheres

Corpus callosum

hemispheric specialization:

what are the functions of the left and right hemispheres?

left: symbolic thinking (language), detail, and literal meaning

Right: spatial perception, overall picture, context, and metaphor

contralateral division of labor:

What did the left and right hemispheres control?

Left: control controls the right side of the body and visual field

right: controls the left side of the body and visual field

epileptic patients had blank cut to reduce seizures in the brain

corpus callosum

results of split brain patients

• lives largely unaffected, seizures, reduced

• Affected abilities relating to naming objects in the left visual field

absence of myelin in masses of neurons accounts for the blank matter of the brain

• Cerebral cortex

Grey matter

myelinated neurons give neurons a white appearance

• Inner layer of cerebrum

White matter