The patient would not be able to say what the word was. However, if the subjet was asked to write what he saw his left hand would begin to write the word "fork". If asked what he had written, the patient would have no idea. He would know that he had written something, because he could feel his hand going through the motion. Yet he could not tell the observers what the word was. Because there was no longer a connection between the two hemispheres, information presented to the right half of the brain can not convey this information to the left half. Interestingly enough, the centers for speech interpretation and production are located in the left hemisphere. If the patient is blindfolded and a familiar object, such as a toothbrush, is placed in his left hand he appears to know what it is; for example by make the gesture of brushing his teeth. If asked by the experimenter to name the object he can not. When asked what he is doing with the object, gesturing a brushing motion, he has know idea. If the left hand gives the toothbrush to the right hand, the patient will immediately say "toothbrush." Cutting apart the two hemispheres of the human brain is a drastic step, and is one of the most controversial operations ever performed. Controversy stems not from the risk to life the procedure involves. It stems from a Jekyll and Hyde aura surrounding the side effects "the"Split-Brain" syndrome. They orchestrate into a single personality if "and only if "the cerebral hemispheres communicate. Thus, many neurosurgeons have been reluctant to try the split-brain operation for fear of severing all vital communications. However, there may now be a way to avoid the Jekyll-Hyde effect. A new form of the surgery devised by P.J. Vogel called anterior cerebral commissurotomy eliminates the Jekyll-Hyde effect. The procedure involves; opening the skull, laying back the brains coverings, then using a tool called a cerebral retractor to expose the corpus callosum.
