162 Self and the Phenomenon of Life
b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity “9x6”- A partial split-brain syndrome occurs naturally as a consequence of a cer-
tain type of stroke, in which a lesion is present in the left occipital visual
cortex along with the adjacent posterior end of the corpus callosum. In
this manner the reading center (present only in the left hemisphere) can-
not receive written image from the visual cortex of either hemisphere, but
the patient is able to put out written words from the reading center to
the motor system of the brain, resulting in the strange condition called
“alexia (inability to read) without agraphia (inability to write).” A concrete
example is when a person can write but cannot read his own writing a few
minutes later. The alexia, however, can be overcome by tracing the let-
ters with a finger, in this instance using the motor system and its sensory
feedback as an incoming channel for the words. See: Cuomo J, Flaster
M, Biller J. (2014) Right Brain: A reading specialist with alexia without
agraphia: Teacher interrupted. Neurology 82 (1): e5–7. DOI: 10.1212/01.
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