Redundancy gain in simple reaction time following partial and complete callosotomy

Abstract

Four subjects with partial or complete section of the corpus callosum were tested on simple reaction time (RT) to visual stimuli presented either singly in one or other visual field, or simultaneously in both visual fields. The subject with posterior callosal section showed evidence of redundancy gain with bilateral stimuli beyond that attributable to probability summation (“enhanced” redundancy gain), and prolonged interhemispheric transfer. One of the two subjects with anterior section, like normals, showed little evidence of enhanced redundancy gain, and no evidence of prolonged interhemispheric transfer. The other did show some enhanced redundancy gain at the fast end of the RT distribution. These and other results suggest that the posterior corpus callosum provides the principal route or routes of interhemispheric transfer of the information required for simple visuomotor responses, and is also responsible for the much reduced redundancy gain in normal subjects relative to that in split-brained subjects. The subject with complete callosal section was unusual in that he responded only very rarely to stimuli in the left visual field (LVF), yet he showed markedly reduced RTs to bilateral relative to right visual field (RVF) stimuli.