In class, we watched two videos on split brain patients. This is a topic I have a lot of difficulty understanding. People who study split brain patients give the patients two tasks. One task is to give a verbal report, and the other task is to pick up and object or draw the object. There will be a point that the split brain patient has to focus on. A word or picture will be flashed on one side of the focus point. The patient will then be asked what they were shown. In the class example we were given, there was a key flashed on the left side and a ring flashed on the right side. In this case, a person with split brain would be able to pick up a key with their left hand but would not be able to say that they saw a key. The patient would be able to say they saw a ring and would be able to pick it up with their right hand. This can be explained by lateralization. The left hemisphere of the brain specializes in language. It is analytical and classifies words. The left hemisphere controls the right hand. The right hemisphere specializes in art and music perception, faces and shapes. The right hemisphere controls the left hand. One of the videos we watched in class was on split brain patient named Joe. In Joe’s case, he can only verbalize what he saw on the right side of the dot. If he sees something on the left side of the dot, he cannot say what he saw. In the video, a picture of grapes is flashed on the right of the focus point. He is able to say he saw grapes. After that, the word “pan” is flashed on the left side of the focus point. Joe said he didn’t know what he saw, but when asked to close his eyes and draw, he drew a pan. Finally, a car and a wheel were flashed simultaneously. The picture of the car was flashed on the left side and the picture of the wheel was flashed on the right side. Joe was able to say he saw a wheel and was able to draw a picture of the car.