{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T03:28:55Z","timestamp":1760239735873,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,18]],"date-time":"2020-12-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1608249600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000925","name":"John Templeton Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["61382"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["61382"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000925","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Symmetry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>One of the most fundamental, and most studied, human cognitive functions is working memory. Yet, it is currently unknown how working memory is unified. In other words, why does a healthy human brain have one integrated capacity of working memory, rather than one capacity per visual hemifield, for instance. Thus, healthy subjects can memorize roughly as many items, regardless of whether all items are presented in one hemifield, rather than throughout two visual hemifields. In this current research, we investigated two patients in whom either most, or the entire, corpus callosum has been cut to alleviate otherwise untreatable epilepsy. Crucially, in both patients the anterior parts connecting the frontal and most of the parietal cortices, are entirely removed. This is essential, since it is often posited that working memory resides in these areas of the cortex. We found that despite the lack of direct connections between the frontal cortices in these patients, working memory capacity is similar regardless of whether stimuli are all presented in one visual hemifield or across two visual hemifields. This indicates that in the absence of the anterior parts of the corpus callosum working memory remains unified. Moreover, it is important to note that memory performance was not similar across visual fields. In fact, capacity was higher when items appeared in the left visual hemifield than when they appeared in the right visual hemifield. Visual information in the left hemifield is processed by the right hemisphere and vice versa. Therefore, this indicates that visual working memory is not symmetric, with the right hemisphere having a superior visual working memory. Nonetheless, a (subcortical) bottleneck apparently causes visual working memory to be integrated, such that capacity does not increase when items are presented in two, rather than one, visual hemifield.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/sym12122106","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,21]],"date-time":"2020-12-21T04:12:01Z","timestamp":1608523921000},"page":"2106","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Unified Visual Working Memory without the Anterior Corpus Callosum"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Yair","family":"Pinto","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Amsterdam Brain &amp; Cognition (ABC) Center, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0312-3674","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edward H.F.","family":"de Haan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Amsterdam Brain &amp; Cognition (ABC) Center, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WS Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1617-6081","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria-Chiara","family":"Villa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy"}]},{"given":"Sabrina","family":"Siliquini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Marche Polytechnic University, 60100 Ancona, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2866-2749","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriele","family":"Polonara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Odontostomatologic and Specialized Clinical Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, 60020 Ancona, Italy"}]},{"given":"Claudia","family":"Passamonti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Unit, Ospedali Riuniti, 60126 Ancona, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8748-0083","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simona","family":"Lattanzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, 60020 Ancona, Italy"}]},{"given":"Nicoletta","family":"Foschi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Epilepsy Center-Neurological Clinic, Azienda \u201cOspedali Riuniti\u201d, 60123 Ancona, Italy"}]},{"given":"Mara","family":"Fabri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Marche Polytechnic University, 60020 Ancona, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"893","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2015.07.013","article-title":"Parietal and frontal cortex encode stimulus-specific mnemonic representations during visual working memory","volume":"87","author":"Ester","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5154","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.16-16-05154.1996","article-title":"Neural mechanisms of visual working memory in prefrontal cortex of the macaque","volume":"16","author":"Miller","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Neurosci. Off. J. Soc. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7432","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.0784-09.2009","article-title":"V4 activity predicts the strength of visual short-term memory representations","volume":"29","author":"Sligte","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Neurosci. Off. J. Soc. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"1","article-title":"Layer-specificity in the effects of attention and working memory on activity in primary visual cortex","volume":"8","author":"Self","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10638","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.2807-09.2009","article-title":"Retinotopic organization of human ventral visual cortex","volume":"29","author":"Arcaro","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Neurosci. Off. J. Soc. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/14640747908400703","article-title":"Cortical maps and visual perception the grindley memorial lecture","volume":"31","author":"Cowey","year":"1979","journal-title":"Q. J. Exp. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"389","DOI":"10.1093\/brain\/60.4.389","article-title":"Somatic motor and sensory representation in the cerebral cortex of man as studied by electrical stimulation","volume":"60","author":"Penfield","year":"1937","journal-title":"Brain J. Neurol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"693","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2005.1628","article-title":"Visual field map clusters in human cortex","volume":"360","author":"Wandell","year":"2005","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1293","DOI":"10.1093\/brain\/123.7.1293","article-title":"Cerebral specialization and interhemispheric communication: Does the corpus callosum enable the human condition?","volume":"123","author":"Gazzaniga","year":"2000","journal-title":"Brain"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Innocenti, G.M. (1986). General organization of callosal connections in the cerebral cortex. Sensory-Motor Areas and Aspects of Cortical Connectivity, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4613-2149-1_9"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12132","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.2320-07.2007","article-title":"Human motor corpus callosum: Topography, somatotopy, and link between microstructure and function","volume":"27","author":"Wahl","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Neurosci. Off. J. Soc. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127","DOI":"10.1027\/1618-3169\/a000232","article-title":"A bilateral advantage in controlling access to visual short-term memory","volume":"61","author":"Holt","year":"2014","journal-title":"Exp. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2010.07.001","article-title":"A bilateral advantage for storage in visual working memory","volume":"117","author":"Umemoto","year":"2010","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1407","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.029","article-title":"Visual working memory as visual attention sustained internally over time","volume":"49","author":"Chun","year":"2011","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1243","DOI":"10.1037\/0096-1523.32.5.1243","article-title":"Feature-based memory-driven attentional capture: Visual working memory content affects visual attention","volume":"32","author":"Olivers","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1167\/10.8.11","article-title":"Distinguishing between parallel and serial accounts of multiple object tracking","volume":"10","author":"Howe","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Vis."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1167\/10.10.4","article-title":"The more often you see an object, the easier it becomes to track it","volume":"10","author":"Pinto","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Vis."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pinto, Y., Scholte, H.S., and Lamme, V.A.F. (2012). Tracking moving identities: After attending the right location, the identity does not come for free. PLoS ONE, 7.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0042929"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1163\/156856888X00122","article-title":"Tracking multiple independent targets: Evidence for a parallel tracking mechanism","volume":"3","author":"Pylyshyn","year":"1988","journal-title":"Spat. Vis."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"637","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2005.01587.x","article-title":"Independent resources for attentional tracking in the left and right visual hemifields","volume":"16","author":"Alvarez","year":"2005","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2005.05.009","article-title":"Tracking multiple targets with multifocal attention","volume":"9","author":"Cavanagh","year":"2005","journal-title":"Trends Cogn. Sci."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1133","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2014.03.054","article-title":"A soft handoff of attention between cerebral hemispheres","volume":"24","author":"Drew","year":"2014","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3139","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1460-9568.2006.04823.x","article-title":"Contribution of the corpus callosum to bilateral representation of the trunk midline in the human brain: An fMRI study of callosotomized patients","volume":"23","author":"Fabri","year":"2006","journal-title":"Eur. J. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brainres.2009.11.030","article-title":"Diffusion tensor tracking of callosal fibers several years after callosotomy","volume":"1312","author":"Pizzini","year":"2010","journal-title":"Brain Res."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1664","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropsychologia.2010.02.011","article-title":"Mirror-image discrimination and reversal in the disconnected hemispheres","volume":"48","author":"Corballis","year":"2010","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sligte, I.G., Scholte, H.S., and Lamme, V.A.F. (2008). Are there multiple visual short-term memory stores?. PLoS ONE, 3.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0001699"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1037\/h0093759","article-title":"The information available in brief visual presentations","volume":"74","author":"Sperling","year":"1960","journal-title":"Psychol. Monogr. Gen. Appl."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03193691","article-title":"Voluntary eyeblinks disrupt iconic memory","volume":"68","author":"Thomas","year":"2006","journal-title":"Percept. Psychophys."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"732","DOI":"10.3758\/s13423-013-0393-4","article-title":"Fragile visual short-term memory is an object-based and location-specific store","volume":"20","author":"Pinto","year":"2013","journal-title":"Psychon. Bull. Rev."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2010.00175","article-title":"Detailed sensory memory, sloppy working memory","volume":"1","author":"Sligte","year":"2010","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1578","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropsychologia.2010.12.010","article-title":"Magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex dissociates fragile visual short-term memory from visual working memory","volume":"49","author":"Sligte","year":"2011","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"470","DOI":"10.3758\/s13423-012-0235-9","article-title":"Are multiple visual short-term memory storages necessary to explain the retro-cue effect?","volume":"19","author":"Makovski","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychon. Bull. Rev."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"758","DOI":"10.1037\/bul0000046","article-title":"What limits working memory capacity?","volume":"142","author":"Oberauer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.1037\/xge0000255","article-title":"Conscious visual memory with minimal attention","volume":"146","author":"Pinto","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Gen."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1559","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropsychologia.2010.12.044","article-title":"Manipulations of attention dissociate fragile visual short-term memory from visual working memory","volume":"49","author":"Vandenbroucke","year":"2011","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"1231","article-title":"Split brain: Divided perception but undivided consciousness","volume":"140","author":"Pinto","year":"2017","journal-title":"Brain"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"835","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2017.09.003","article-title":"The split-brain phenomenon revisited: A single conscious agent with split perception","volume":"21","author":"Pinto","year":"2017","journal-title":"Trends Cogn. Sci."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"348","DOI":"10.1037\/a0029503","article-title":"The joint development of hemispheric lateralization for words and faces","volume":"142","author":"Dundas","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Gen."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-510X(00)00412-3","article-title":"Visual working memory revealed by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation","volume":"181","author":"Hong","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Neurol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"849","DOI":"10.1037\/0096-1523.18.3.849","article-title":"Temporary suppression of visual processing in an RSVP task: An attentional blink?","volume":"18","author":"Raymond","year":"1992","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"291","DOI":"10.1016\/S1364-6613(97)01094-2","article-title":"The attentional blink","volume":"1","author":"Shapiro","year":"1997","journal-title":"Trends Cogn. Sci."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandc.2004.02.026","article-title":"Right hemisphere involvement in the attentional blink: Evidence from a split-brain patient","volume":"55","author":"Giesbrecht","year":"2004","journal-title":"Brain Cogn."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"64","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biopsycho.2009.06.001","article-title":"The attentional blink within and across the hemispheres: Evidence from a patient with a complete section of the corpus callosum","volume":"82","author":"Ptito","year":"2009","journal-title":"Biol. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn.1994.6.1.84","article-title":"Independent attentional scanning in the separated hemispheres of split-brain patients","volume":"6","author":"Luck","year":"1994","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"543","DOI":"10.1038\/342543a0","article-title":"Independent hemispheric attentional systems mediate visual-search in split-brain patients","volume":"342","author":"Luck","year":"1989","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"224","DOI":"10.1007\/s11065-020-09439-3","article-title":"Split-brain: What we know now and why this is important for understanding consciousness","volume":"30","author":"Corballis","year":"2020","journal-title":"Neuropsychol. Rev."}],"container-title":["Symmetry"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-8994\/12\/12\/2106\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T10:46:45Z","timestamp":1760179605000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-8994\/12\/12\/2106"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,18]]},"references-count":46,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12]]}},"alternative-id":["sym12122106"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/sym12122106","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-8994"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2073-8994"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,18]]}}}