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Fig. 19 Four examples of how the left brain tries to interpret the actions of both hemispheres. (A) In a classical test, a chicken claw was shown to the (speaking) left hemisphere and a snow scene was shown to the (silent) right hemisphere. Patient P.S. easily picked out related pictures from a set of eight choices. His left hand chose a snow shovel and his right hand chose a chicken. When asked why he had picked those particular pictures, P.S. said, `Oh, that's simple. The chicken claw goes with the chicken, and you need a shovel to clean out the chicken shed'. (B) In another instance of the interpreter at work, patient J.W. was flashed the word `telephone' to the right hemisphere. He said, `I'm not sure I got that one. I think it's clap—that wouldn't be right, would it?' He was then asked to draw what he had seen and with his left hand he drew a telephone. When he was finished he said `Telephone. I don't know where I got clap out of telephone'. He was then asked, `You said clap but you drew a phone. Do you know why you drew a phone?' He responded `No. Too many pills—it makes me feel high'. (C) Patient J.W. was flashed the word `bell' to his silent right hemisphere and the word `music' to his left hemisphere. Again, each hemisphere was free to choose related pictures from a group. J.W. pointed to a picture of a bell, and when asked why said `Music—last time I heard any music was from the bells outside here, banging away'. J.W. was referring to the bells that ring regularly from the Dartmouth library. (D) Patient V.P., who can make single-word utterances out of her right hemisphere as well as speak out of her left. When a picture is shown to her left hemisphere she describes it at length and accurately. For example, when shown a picture of a hurdler she says, `I don't know if he's an athlete or not, but he is a man running over hurdles. He's got gym shorts on and I don't know for sure if he had a shirt on. I think he did and tennis shoes, jogger's shoes'. At a later time the same picture is shown to the right hemisphere and she utters a one-word description which is heard by the left brain. From that point the left tries to describe something it didn't in fact see. Patient V.P. says, `An athlete—a basketball guy? Had a uniform. His back was facing me, and he was on an angle. He looked like he had been walking, and he was gonna take another step because one foot was like more out'.
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