In this article we will explore the split brain experiment and its findings. We will also delve into a thought experiment about consciousness.

History

Since the 1940s, patients with severe epilepsy have been treated surgically by cutting corpus callosum in their brain, which is a thick bundle of nerve fibers connecting the brain’s two hemispheres (left and right). Since corpus callosum enabled both the hemispheres to communicate with each other, cutting this pathway means disabling this communication and thereby preventing seizures from spreading from one hemisphere to the other.

One of the most influential artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso’s work was known very well for pushing the boundaries of traditional art. His work was mostly diverse and many contained expressions of emotions aimed at conveying their psychological states.

After relishing the ample fruits of his successful career, during his old age, Pablo Picasso was sitting at a restaurant scribbling something on a napkin. He was just enjoying the present and effortlessly scribbling something that grasped his attention at that moment. A woman, sitting on the nearby table noticed him. As Picasso finished his coffee and crumbled up the napkin to throw it away, the woman stopped him and asked:

Have you ever wondered why we feel less motivated after a tiring day at college or at work? Why does a cheat day or skipping the workout routine feels like heaven on such occasions? This article is tailored to give answers about that.

According to the researches of psychologist Roy F. Baumeister and his colleagues, we the humans, seems to have only a limited reserve of mental/emotional energy. His researches shows that this reserve of energy could get depleted with tasks that demands mental/emotional effort. The conclusion he made was that the motivation to do other tasks requiring any mental/emotional effort are affected when our energy reserves are depleted and this later came to be called as the term ego depletion.