In August of 1991, a second Dartmouth International Workshop on the
corpus callosum was convened to share and discuss the progress that had
been made over the decade that had passed following the first workshop.
A nucleus of basic and clinical scientists came together to discuss
their work and the work of others in a field that has been broadened
clinically by the addition of many new centers throughout the world that
are now performing corpus callosotomy for intractable epilepsy. This
text was stimulated by the participants' presentations and associated
fertile discussions. It is compiled from the conference and subsequent
studies. It reflects, both at the basic and clinical level, an important
and expanding field of neural science endeavor. In keeping with the
present and rapidly expanding field of outcomes assessment, callosotomy
is again evaluated in light of a further decade of surgery and
follow-up. Callosotomy continues to be a useful, palliative procedure
and the indications for its use have been better established. The basic
science section is a supplement to the first edition and elaborates
progress in both new data and ideas. The section on experimental
epilepsy models adds further support to the clinical rationale for
callosotomy. Perhaps of greater importance is the contribution of
experimental models to our understanding of the propagation of seizure
activity. The section on the neuropsychology of the split brain patient
demonstrates the continuing major contributions to the understanding of
brain and behavior that pour forth from this cornucopia.
