The Split-Brain Paradigm

Abstract

The split-brain findings and their implications for conscious experience are reviewed. The thesis is presented that the left and right hemispheres of split-brain patients mediate separate spheres of conscious experience. The notion of dual consciousness is then extended to the normal state with corpus callosum intact and the conclusion drawn that individual brains plausibly contain at least two separate streams of conscious experience, one in each hemisphere. In light of the possibility of multiple consciousness per brain, the focus of the next few chapters will be directed specifically to verbally reportable conscious experience (vr-conscious experience), that form of conscious experience mediated uniquely by the left hemisphere, with the proviso that the discussion will be expanded in Chap. 11 to include conscious experiences of all varieties.