Sperry's early research was on the regeneration of nerve fibres. He
eventually became interested in brain function and undertook research
on animals and then on human epileptics whose brains had been "split"-i.e.,
in whom the thick cable of nerves (the corpus callosum) connecting the
right and left cerebral hemispheres had been severed. His studies demonstrated
that the left side of the brain is normally dominant for analytical
and verbal tasks, while the right hemisphere assumes dominance in spatial
tasks, music, and certain other areas. The surgical and experimental
techniques Sperry developed from the late 1940s laid the groundwork
for much more specialized explorations of the mental functions carried
out in different areas of the brain.
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