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===Split-brain patients===
Research by [[Michael Gazzaniga]] and [[Roger Wolcott Sperry]] in the [[1960s]] on [[split-brain]] patients led to an even greater understanding of functional laterality. Split-brain patients are patients who have undergone corpus callosotomy (usually as a treatment for severe epilepsy), a severing of the [[corpus callosum]]. The corpus callosum connects the two hemispheres of the brain and allows them to communicate. When these connections are cut, the two halves of the brain act independently of one another. This led to many interesting [[behavior]]al phenomena that allowed Gazzaniga and Sperry to study the contributions of each hemisphere to various cognitive and perceptual processes. One of their main findings was that the right hemisphere was capable of rudimentary language processing, but often has no lexical or grammatical abilities<ref name="Kandel_1">Kandel E, Schwartz J, Jessel T. ''Principles of Neural Science''. 4th ed. p1182. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2000. ISBN 0838577016</ref>.
==Pseudoscientific exageration==
Hines (1987) states that the research on brain lateralization is valid as a research programme, though it has been applied to promote subjects and products far out of the implications of the research. For example, the implications of the research have no baring on psychological interventions such as [[EMDR]], brain training equipment, or management training. One explanation for being so prone to exaggeration and false application, is that the left-right brain dichotomy is and easy to understand notion, yet is often grossly oversimplified and misused for promotion in the guise of science. This is often known as right-brain mythology, and is associated with occult notions such as yin/yang, righteous and sinister, and day and night. The research on lateralization of brain functioning is ongoing, and its implications are always tightly delineated, whereas the pseudoscientific applications are exaggerated, and applied to an extremely wide range of applications.
==See also==
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