Split Brain Experiments – with Gillian Forrester and Jim Al-Khalili

Thousands of you watched our film on brain asymmetry and asked some brilliant questions, so we stopped by Professor Gillian Forrester’s lab to dive even deeper into the topic. In this follow-up you’ll hear about real, ground-breaking experiments and learn more about what the left and right brain hemispheres reveal about evolution and human behaviour. Why is it so hard to draw a circle and a square with each hand at the same time? Are left-handed people really better at some things than right-handed people? How do scientists actually test which bits of our brains are specialised for different tasks? If you haven't seen the original brain asymmetry film yet, we'd recommend starting there first before coming back to this one. Watch the original video: Why Evolution Split Your Brain In Half – B... Chapters 00:00 Send us your questions 00:55 The split-brain theory 05:01 Why drawing two shapes is so difficult 06:42 Left vs. right handedness 08:38 Chimeric face experiment 11:58 Why we cradle babies on the left 14:28 Hulk the cane toad 17:29 Brain asymmetry, language & left-handedness Patreon Membership Becoming a Member on Patreon helps support the channel and fund our videos. Join us for early access to videos, bonus content and our infinite thanks: Patreon: Unbaffled Infinite thanks to our Patreon Unbafflers John F Taylor Maria Sputnik Thanks to Professor Gilly Forrester • https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p170236... • Instagram: gillyforrester About the Chimeric Face Test The Chimeric Face Test (CFT) is a behavioural task used to assess brain asymmetry in emotional processing. Participants view composite faces where one side shows half-emotion while the other side shows a neutral expression. The participant selects the face that is more expressive from the choices available. The use of split-face images to study perception dates back almost 100 years. There are a variety of different CFT paradigms, but in general, they are designed to be scored to reveal visual field biases of participants and populations. A visual field bias is considered an indirect marker of hemisphere dominance for emotion processing. Although there is significant individual variability, research demonstrates a population-level right-hemisphere (left visual field) dominance for emotion. The faces used in this CFT example are adapted from: • Innes, R. B., Burt, D. M., Birch, Y. K. & Hausmann, M. (2016): A leftward bias however you look at it: Revisiting the emotional chimeric face task as a tool for measuring emotion lateralization. _Laterality, 21, 643-661_. • https://doi.org/10.1080/1357650X.2015... Try a Chimeric Face Task: https://mehuman.io/chimeric/v3/ Additional Reading: • The Conversation (brain asymmetry development): https://theconversation.com/how-child... • The Conversation (brain asymmetry evolution): https://theconversation.com/why-most-... • Seminal article in Scientific American: https://www.academia.edu/5522168/Orig... • New Book by Rogers and Vallortigara: https://www.routledge.com/The-Twofold... Follow us on social media Facebook: UnbaffledScience Instagram: unbaffledscience TikTok: unbaffledscience https://bsky.app/profile/jimalkhalili... About Unbaffled Some ideas are hard to wrap your head around, but science doesn't have to be baffling. Unbaffled helps curious people, like you, develop an intuitive understanding of the science that shapes our world. Presented by Professor Jim Al-Khalili, we’re bringing you clear explanations of topics across science, technology and maths that will leave you informed and amazed. Monthly videos. Subscribe to be unbaffled. #Unbaffled #science #neuroscience #psychology #psychologyfacts #neuroplasticity #evolution #behavioralpsychology #behaviouralscience #JimAlKhalili #GillianForrester