I'm Left Handed (Only Not Actually)

         As another great AP Psychology test looms before us, we turn back to study every aspect of the brain that we have learned. While I was studying, I found that the most interesting information was about the split-brain. In class we learned how a split brain can affect a person's language and perception.

        First of all, we learned that splitting the brain is a step that doctors take to prevent certain types of seizures (I had to explain this to my mother, who thought that splitting the brain caused you to die). I was very interested to know what types of seizures could only be stopped by splitting the brain. By looking on Google, I found that people have their brain split to stop epileptic seizures. An epileptic seizure is one of the worst kind of seizure there is. A person who has a severe seizure can yell, become unconscious, twitch or move uncontrollably, drool, or lose bladder control. These types of seizures don't last very long, but when they are over, the person will remain dazed and exhausted. Personally, I would have my brain split if it meant that I wouldn't have to endure this type of seizure. 

         Language in right-handed people in centered in the left hemisphere of the brain. There are three main areas that are responsible for different aspects of language. Broca's area, located in the left frontal lobe, is responsible for spoken language. Damage to Broca's area, while allowing you to read and write, will leave you with disrupted speech. Wernicke's area, located in the left temporal lobe, is responsible for language comprehension; therefore if it were damaged you would not be able to understand what people say to you. The last aspect of language is found in the angular gyrus, located at the junction of the parietal lobe and temporal lobe. The angular gyrus is responsible for the ability to read out loud.

        In class we looked at specific experiments done on people with split brains. One such experiment was where a person with a split brain was blindfolded and asked to feel an object, in this case we'll say a fork, in their right hand. They were then asked to say what the object was. We saw that the person would be able to say "fork" because the information from the right hand is processed in the left sight of the brain, where language is also processed. If they were holding the fork in their left hand, they would not be able to say "fork", because the information from the left hand is processed in the right side of the brain, which is not involved with language. If someone with a normal brain was asked to do this same experiment, they would able to say "fork" both times, because their intact corpus callosum sends the information from one side of the brain to the other.

         When studying the split brain, we mainly looked at experiments that involved right handed people. Mrs. Perl said that this is because left handed people can sometime process language in both sides of the brain. I was intrigued by this and decided to look more into it. However, after spending a good 10 minutes on Google, I couldn't find why left handed people can process language in both sides of the brain. Does anyone have an idea?

More information on epileptic seizures here: http://www.medicinenet.com/seizure/article.htm#what_is_epilepsy