facing pages

[Thom Remington <remingtf -at- FREENET -dot- SCRI -dot- FSU -dot- EDU>]

The only study I've seen suggests putting text on the right and graphics
on the left. The reason is that, for about 95% of the population, the
verbal parts of the brain are in the left hemisphere, while the spatial,
symbolic parts are in the right hemisphere. The left half of each eye's
visual field is processed in the right part of the brain.

Now, if you want to snow people, you can point out that the optic nerves
cross over at a point known as the "optic chiasm." That's not a
misspelling of "chasm."

There have been studies done, for example, of people who have had a kind
of brain surgery known as a commisurotomy. This is a last-ditch treatment
for some kinds of extremely sever epilepsy. In this operation, the corpus
callosum, the connector between the two hemispheres of the brain, is
severed. These people still function, but there are some peculiarities.
If you present an object only to the left half of the visual field, the
person can find the object by touch, but with the left hand only. He or
she will NOT be able to give you a word for it. Similarly, if you present
an object to the right half of the visual field, the person won't be able
to find it with the left hand, but the person will be able to give you a
word for the object.

Possibly the best source of information for this stuff is a book, "The
Creative Brain," by Ned Herrmann (1989, Ned Herrmann Books.) Another
fascinating writer in the field is Robert Ornstein, though I'm not sure
if any of his stuff is still in print.

Hope this helps.

Thom Remington
Wilmington, Delaware
REMINGTF -at- FREENET -dot- FSU -dot- EDU