Callosal transfer and left-hand anomia in schizophrenia.

The theory of callosal failure in schizophrenia is examined using the test for left-hand anomia. It is argued that if the corpus callosum is affected in schizophrenia with consequent difficulty of transmission between the two sides of the brain, a greater number of left-hand errors should be found in producing the names of objects held by that hand because the speech area of the left hemisphere is no longer available for the description of the perceptions of the left hand. The findings support this view and they confirm the communication failures of the brain related to callosal disturbance.

The functions of the right hemisphere and the brain regions involved in figural matching.

A search for the source within the right hemisphere of its primacy on tests of figural matching was made. Patients with right and left hemisphere damage were studied and comparison was made of response to a shape matching task flashed to the right or the left hemisphere. When the right hemisphere is damaged performance seriously declines whether the patient is tested on the right or the left hemisphere.

Some effects of piracetam (UCB 6215, Nootropyl) on chronic schizophrenia.

A study is described of effects of a nootropic drug on chronic schizophrenia. The nootropic drugs act on the central nervous system with the cerebral cortex as their target. Chronic schizophrenic patients on the drug showed improvement in object naming and in tests where the patient was required to indicate the number of times he had been tapped.

Functions of the centre section (trunk) of the corpus callosum in man.

The case is reported of a patient in whom the middle sagittal third of the corpus callosum had been removed for the treatment of an underlying angioma. The special advantages of the case are that the patient is a young, relatively healthy person of normal IQ. The angioma had not interfered with interhemispheric transmission and the patient was described as neurologically normal before operation.