A review of early split-brain animal experiments

What happens if you cut your cortex in half? When this was first tried on animals, the answer amazingly seemed to be not much. But starting in the late 1950s, a series of split-brain experiments found that very weird things happen under careful testing. This was done first in cats, then monkeys, and eventually humans.

These experiments are fascinating for their implications into the mind, consciousness, and selfhood. However, existing presentations of these experiments tend to have a strong interpretive narrative. When I went back and actually read the original papers, I concluded these narratives are dangerous. It’s way too easy to explain away inconvenient results everywhere to tell whatever story you want.

These experiments are just so weird, and their implications so fascinating, that the only way to make sure you’re getting an accurate picture is to focus on the facts: What was actually done, and what was observed?

Here I’ll review early animal experiments, particularly those that set the stage for Roger Sperry’s later research on humans.

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