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Separationwhich imagines a world where a person’s work and personal life are surgically separated, returns Friday for its highly anticipated second season. While the concept of this gripping sci-fi work is far-fetched, it addresses a question that neuroscience has been trying to answer for decades: Is it really possible to split a person’s mind in two?
It’s worth noting that “split brain” patients have been around since the 1940s. To control epileptic symptoms, these patients underwent surgery to separate the left and right hemispheres. Similar surgeries are performed today.
Later research on this type of surgery showed that the hemispheres separated from patients by dividing the brain can process information independently. This raises the uncomfortable possibility that this method creates two separate minds in one brain.
In chapter one of SeparationHallie R. (Brit Laure) experiences a conflict between her “innie” (the side of her mind that remembers her work life) and her “outie” (the side outside of work). Similarly, there is evidence of antagonism between the two hemispheres of actual split-brain patients.
When talking to split-brain patients, you usually communicate with the left hemisphere of the brain, which controls speech. However, some patients can communicate from their right hemisphere, for example by writing or arranging Scrabble letters.
In one study, a young patient was asked what career he would like to have in the future. His left hemisphere chose an office job making technical drawings. However, his right hemisphere was arranging the letters to spell “car racing”.
Cleft-brain patients have also reported “alien hand syndrome,” in which one of their hands is thought to be moving of its own accord. These observations suggest that two separate conscious “men” may coexist in the same brain and may have opposing goals.
in SeparationHowever, both innie and outie have access to speech. This is one indication that the imaginary “dissociation procedure” must involve a more complex dissociation of brain networks.
An example of complex separation of functions was described in a 1994 case report by Neal. Neil was a teenage boy who had many problems following a pineal gland tumor. One of these problems was a rare type of amnesia. This meant that Neil could not remember the events of his day or report what he had learned at school. He was also unable to read, although he could write, and unable to name objects, although he could draw them.
Amazingly, Neil was able to continue with his studies. The researchers became interested in how he was able to complete his schoolwork despite having no memory of what he had learned. They asked him about the novel he was studying at school. Cider with Rosy By Laurie Lee In conversation, Neil doesn’t remember anything about the book – not even the title. But when a researcher asked Neal to write down everything he remembered about the book, he wrote: “Bloodshot Geranium windows Cider with Rosie Dranium smells like wet pepper. [sic] and mushroom growth” – all words related to the novel. Since Neil was unable to read, he had to ask the researcher, “What did I write?”
