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Michael Gazzaniga

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Michael Gazzaniga
Born (1939-12-12) December 12, 1939 (age 85)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Alma materDartmouth College (BA)
California Institute of Technology (PhD)
Known forSplit-brain research, cerebral lateralization, cognitive neuroscience
AwardsElected to the National Academy of Sciences, honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology, neuroscience
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Santa Barbara
Doctoral advisorRoger Sperry
Doctoral studentsJoseph E. LeDoux

Michael S. Gazzaniga (born December 12, 1939) is an American cognitive neuroscientist who is an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[2] He is the founder and retired director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at UCSB (2006–2023).[3]

Biography

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In 1961, Gazzaniga graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A in Zoology.[4] In 1964, he received a Ph.D. in psychobiology from the California Institute of Technology,[5] where he carried out research on human split-brain patients for his doctoral thesis under Roger Sperry.[6] In his subsequent work he has made important advances in our understanding of which functions are lateralized in the brain and how the left and right cerebral hemispheres communicate with one another.[7]

Career

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He has had a distinguished career in the field of cognitive neuroscience.[8] In 1993, he founded the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, a professional organization dedicated to advancing the field.[9] From 1988 to 2003, he served as the founding editor and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.[10]

Gazzaniga's academic career began as an assistant professor of psychology at UCSB in 1967.[11]

In 1969 he moved to New York University graduate school as an assistant professor, and in 1972 became a full professor.[5] In 1973 he took a position as professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and later became a professor of social sciences in Medicine.[12]

This led to Cornell University Medical College, where he was appointed Director of the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience and a Professor of Neurology and Psychology from 1977 to 1988.[4]

In 2009, he delivered the Gifford Lectures on Mental Life at the University of Edinburgh.[13] In 2019, Trinity College Dublin awarded him with an honorary doctorate.[14]

Gazzaniga's publication career includes books for a general audience such as The Social Brain,[15] Mind Matters,[16] Nature's Mind,[17] The Ethical Brain and Who's in Charge?,[18] which is based on the Gifford lectures he presented at the University of Edinburgh in 2009.[19] He is also the editor of The Cognitive Neurosciences book series published by the MIT Press, which features the work of nearly 200 scientists and is a sourcebook for the field.[20] His latest book is entitled The Consciousness Instinct: Unraveling the Mystery of How the Brain Makes Mind, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2018.[21][22][23]

Research

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Early research

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Gazzaniga is known for his pioneering work in the field of cognitive neuroscience.[24] His research with split-brain patients has been instrumental in understanding the distinct roles of the left and right hemispheres of the brain.[25] In split-brain patients the corpus callosum, the giant nerve bundle which connects the right and left hemispheres, had been severed to limit the transmission of nerve impulses across the brain in the hopes of decreasing previously intractable seizures. The original series of split-brain patients, whose callosotomies had been done in the 1930s in Rochester, New York had been previously tested,[26] and no evidence was found that there was any disruption of the interhemispheric transfer of information after callosotomy. Later, however, Sperry and his graduate student Ron Myers found that severing the corpus callosum in monkeys did block the transfer of information.[27]

As a first-year graduate student at Caltech, Gazzaniga, convinced by the monkey research that transfer of information would be interrupted, began to test the first California split-brain patient with a testing procedure that had not been done on the previous series of split-brain patients.[28] He designed an apparatus that flashed a letter, number or symbol onto a screen to either the right or left visual field while the patient focused on a central point.[29][30]

Patient W.J.

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Patient W.J. was a World War II paratrooper, the first of a series of patients that underwent a callosotomy on the West Coast.[31][32]

He had developed grand mal seizures after a German soldier knocked him out with a rifle butt after a parachute jump behind enemy lines.[33] Before surgery, Gazzaniga tested W.J.’s brain functions.[34] This included presenting stimuli to the left and right visual fields and identifying objects placed in his hands that were out of view.[35] After he had the surgery, the test results were different.[36] When a picture of an object was flashed to his right visual field, he was asked if he saw anything: He quickly named the object.[37] When a picture was flashed to his left visual field, he denied seeing anything.[38] Then a circle was flashed on the screen.[39] This experiment opened the door to years of research by Gazzaniga and colleagues that has revealed that severing the callosum prevents the transfer of perceptual, sensory, motor, gnostic and other types of information between the left and right cerebral hemispheres.[40] Extensive research has shown that many of the brains processes are lateralized, such as speech and language to the left hemisphere,[41] along with analytical thinking and the capacity to interpret behavior and unconsciously driven emotional states,[42] while visuospatial processing,[43] facial recognition,[44] attentional monitoring,[45] and the ascribing of beliefs to others are right hemisphere processes.[46]

Patient P.S.

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Patient P.S. was a teenage boy, the first split-brain patient studied from the east coast series who had a full callosotomy.[47] He was also the first split-brain patient in that series who demonstrated extensive language comprehension in the right hemisphere.[48]

His right hemisphere was able to label pictures of objects by spelling out the appropriate word with Scrabble tiles. Even though he was right-handed, he could roughly write words with his left hand, even though he could not speak them.[42] All these findings led Gazzaniga and his graduate student Joe LeDoux to wonder if the right hemisphere would be able to answer subjective and personal questions, did it have its own identity? For example, they started out by saying, “Who” and then flashed the word ‘are you’ to his left visual field and thus his right hemisphere. He spelled out PAUL with his left hand using the tiles.[49]

Selected publications

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  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (1970). The Bisected Brain. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. ISBN 978-0-390-35278-1.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S.; LeDoux, Joseph E. (1978). The Integrated Mind. New York: Plenum Pr. ISBN 978-0-306-31085-0.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (1987). Social Brain: Discovering the Networks of the Mind. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-07850-9.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (1988). Mind Matters: How Mind and Brain Interact to Create our Conscious Lives. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-50095-8.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (1992). Nature's Mind: The Biological Roots of Thinking, Emotions, Sexuality, Language and Intelligence. New York: BasicBooks. ISBN 978-0-465-04863-2.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2000). The Mind's Past. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22486-5.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2005). The Ethical Brain. New York [u.a.]: Dana Press. ISBN 978-1-932594-01-0.
  • Senior, Carl; Russell, Tamara; Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2006). Methods in Mind (1st ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-19541-6.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S.; Ivry, Richard B.; Mangun, George R. (2009). Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind (3rd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-92795-5.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2009). Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique (1st ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-089289-0.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2011). Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain (1st ed.). New York, NY: Ecco. ISBN 978-0-06-190610-7.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2015). Tales from Both Sides of the Brain: A Life in Neuroscience (1st ed.). New York, NY: Ecco. ISBN 978-0062228802.
  • Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2018). The Consciousness Instinct: Unraveling the Mystery of How the Brain Makes the Mind (1st ed.). New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0374715502.

Awards

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS). "In Honor Of ... Michael Gazzaniga".
  2. ^ "Michael Gazzaniga". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved 28 June 2022. Michael Gazzaniga is the Director of the SAGE Center for the Study of Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
  3. ^ Wedding, Danny (27 September 2016). "Tony Puente on Michael Gazzaniga". American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association. Retrieved 28 June 2022. Michael Gazzaniga is one of the leading intellectuals in cognitive neuroscience.
  4. ^ a b "Dartmouth 2011 Honorary Degree Recipient: Michael S. Gazzaniga '61 (Doctor of Science) | Dartmouth". home.dartmouth.edu. 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  5. ^ a b "Michael Gazzaniga (PhD '65), Neuroscientist and Pioneer in Split Brain Research". Heritage Project. 2024-09-27. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  6. ^ "A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Roger Sperry". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  7. ^ "Episode 183 – Dr. Michael Gazzaniga – Left Brain vs. Right Brain". Smart People Podcast. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  8. ^ O'Leary, Denyse (2024-09-16). "Split-Brain Research Confirms Mind's Unity". Evolution News. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  9. ^ "Birth of Cognitive Neuroscience". Association for Psychological Science - APS. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  10. ^ "Interview with Michael Gazzaniga". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1224: 1–8. 2011. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.05998.x. ISSN 1749-6632. PMID 21486292.
  11. ^ Wielawski, Irene M. "Is Your Brain to Blame?". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 2025-02-18.
  12. ^ http://mitp-content-server.mit.edu:18180/books/content/sectbyfn?collid=books_pres_0&fn=9780262014014_pre_0001.pdf&id=8564 A Tribute to Michael S. Gazzaniga
  13. ^ "Gifford Lectures". ed.ac.uk. University of Edinburgh.
  14. ^ "Honorary Degrees 2019". Trinity News and Events. 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  15. ^ Gere, Cathy (2011-11-16). "Hemispheric Disturbances: On Michael Gazzaniga". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  16. ^ Kiante (2018-12-26). "Book Summary: Mind Matters by Michael Gazzaniga". Forces of Habit. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  17. ^ "Nature's mind : the biological roots of thinking, emotions, sexuality, language, and intelligence / Michael S. Gazzaniga". Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  18. ^ Cook, Gareth. "Neuroscience Challenges Old Ideas about Free Will". Scientific American. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  19. ^ "Michael Gazzaniga: The Ethical Brain". press.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  20. ^ The Cognitive Neurosciences. The MIT Press. 2009-09-18. ISBN 978-0-262-30310-1.
  21. ^ "'Consciousness Instinct'". The Current. 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  22. ^ Harari, Yuval Noah (2017). Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. London: Vintage. ISBN 9781784703936. OCLC 953597984.
  23. ^ The cognitive neuroscience of mind: A Tribute to Michael S. Gazzaniga, edited by Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz, Kathleen Baynes, George R. Mangun, and Elizabeth A. Phelps, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2010
  24. ^ American Psychological Association, “Psychology’s best,” 2008, Vol 39, No. 9, http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/10/honors.aspx
  25. ^ Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2011). Who's in charge? free will and the science of the brain. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0062096838.
  26. ^ VAN WAGENEN, WILLIAM P. (1940-10-01). "SURGICAL DIVISION OF COMMISSURAL PATHWAYS IN THE CORPUS CALLOSUM". Archives of Neurology & Psychiatry. 44 (4): 740. doi:10.1001/archneurpsyc.1940.02280100042004. ISSN 0096-6754.
  27. ^ MYERS, RONALD E. (1956). "FUNCTION OF CORPUS CALLOSUM IN INTEROCULAR TRANSFER". Brain. 79 (2): 358–363. doi:10.1093/brain/79.2.358. ISSN 0006-8950.
  28. ^ https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1417892111 The split-brain: Rooting consciousness in biology Michael S. Gazzaniga
  29. ^ Hock, Roger R., “Forty Studies that Changed Psychology Explorations into the History of Psychological Research,” Ch. 1 “Biology and Human Behavior”, Reading 1: “One Brain or Two?” Copyright 2013, 2009, 2005 by Pearson Education Inc.
  30. ^ "Michael Gazzaniga, on season 7, episode 3". Scientific American Frontiers. Chedd-Angier Production Company. 1996–1997. PBS. Archived from the original on 2006-01-01.
  31. ^ Wolman, David (14 March 2012), “The Split Brain: A Tale of Two Halves”, Nature 483: 260–263
  32. ^ (2011), "Interview with Michael Gazzaniga", Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1224: 1–8
  33. ^ Gazzaniga, M.S.; Bogen, J.E.; Sperry, R.W. (1963). "Laterality effects in somesthesis following cerebral commissurotomy in man". Neuropsychologia. 1 (3): 209–215. doi:10.1016/0028-3932(63)90016-2. ISSN 0028-3932.
  34. ^ Draaisma, Douwe (2015). "Neuroscience: Halving it all". Nature. 518 (7539): 298–299. doi:10.1038/518298a. ISSN 1476-4687.
  35. ^ "Gazzaniga on Whole Brain". gurney.itweb.ucf.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  36. ^ Volz, Lukas J.; Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2017-07-01). "Interaction in isolation: 50 years of insights from split-brain research". Brain. 140 (7): 2051–2060. doi:10.1093/brain/awx139. ISSN 0006-8950.
  37. ^ "Experiment Module: What Split Brains Tell Us About Language". thebrain.mcgill.ca. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  38. ^ "Dr. Gazzaniga is conducting a study with a split-brain patient. Dr. Gazzaniga flashes an image of a dog in - brainly.com". brainly.com. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  39. ^ Smith, Emily Esfahani (2015-07-27). "One Head, Two Brains". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-02-28.
  40. ^ Gazzaniga, Michael S. (2000-07-01). "Cerebral specialization and interhemispheric communication: Does the corpus callosum enable the human condition?". Brain. 123 (7): 1293–1326. doi:10.1093/brain/123.7.1293. ISSN 0006-8950.
  41. ^ GAZZANIGA, M. S.; SPERRY, R. W. (1967). "LANGUAGE AFTER SECTION OF THE CEREBRAL COMMISSURES". Brain. 90 (1): 131–148. doi:10.1093/brain/90.1.131. ISSN 0006-8950.
  42. ^ a b Gazzaniga, Michael S.; LeDoux, Joseph E. (1978). The Integrated Mind. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2206-9.
  43. ^ Corballis, Paul M. (2003). "Visuospatial processing and the right-hemisphere interpreter". Brain and Cognition. 53 (2): 171–176. doi:10.1016/s0278-2626(03)00103-9. ISSN 0278-2626.
  44. ^ Turk, David J.; Heatherton, Todd F.; Kelley, William M.; Funnell, Margaret G.; Gazzaniga, Michael S.; Macrae, C. Neil (2002-08-19). "Mike or me? Self-recognition in a split-brain patient". Nature Neuroscience. 5 (9): 841–842. doi:10.1038/nn907. ISSN 1097-6256.
  45. ^ Mangun, G. R.; Luck, S. J.; Plager, R.; Loftus, W.; Hillyard, S. A.; Handy, T.; Clark, V. P.; Gazzaniga, M. S. (1994). "Monitoring the Visual World: Hemispheric Asymmetries and Subcortical Processes in Attention". Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 6 (3): 267–275. doi:10.1162/jocn.1994.6.3.267. ISSN 0898-929X.
  46. ^ Miller, Michael B.; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter; Young, Liane; King, Danielle; Paggi, Aldo; Fabri, Mara; Polonara, Gabriele; Gazzaniga, Michael S. (June 2010). "Abnormal moral reasoning in complete and partial callosotomy patients". Neuropsychologia. 48 (7): 2215–2220. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.02.021. ISSN 0028-3932. PMC 2876192.
  47. ^ WILSON, DONALD H.; REEVES, ALEXANDER; GAZZANIGA, MICHAEL; CULVER, CHARLES (1977). "Cerebral commissurotomy for control of intractable seizures". Neurology. 27 (8): 708–708. doi:10.1212/wnl.27.8.708. ISSN 0028-3878.
  48. ^ GAZZANIGA, M. S.; LeDOUX, J. E.; WILSON, D. H. (December 1977). "Language, praxis, and the right hemisphere". Neurology. 27 (12): 1144–1144. doi:10.1212/wnl.27.12.1144. ISSN 0028-3878.
  49. ^ https://www.sfn.org/-/media/SfN/Documents/TheHistoryofNeuroscience/Volume-7/c3.pdf The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography Volume 7
  50. ^ "Michael Saunders Gazzaniga | American Academy of Arts and Sciences". www.amacad.org. 25 February 2025.
  51. ^ "Michael S. Gazzaniga – NAS". www.nasonline.org.
  52. ^ "UC Santa Barbara Psychology Professor Michael Gazzaniga Awarded Prestigious German Research Prize for Lifetime Achievements in Science". The Current. 1 July 2008.
  53. ^ "Former President George H.W. Bush Among Nine Dartmouth Honorary Degree Recipients | Dartmouth". home.dartmouth.edu. 12 May 2011.
  54. ^ "Leading folk musician among those to be honoured by University of Aberdeen | News | The University of Aberdeen". www.abdn.ac.uk.
  55. ^ "Gazzaniga Receives APS Lifetime Achievement Award". APS Observer. 1 May 2015.
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