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By now, you should understand the concept behind smash-hit scifi Severance (if you don't, hurry the hell up and learn - as of this writing, season 2 drops tomorrow). Basically, the idea revolves around a medical procedure that can separate the human brain into two personalities, with each having no memories of the other's experiences. It makes for great thriller TV, but perhaps the most mind-blowing bit about it is something you won't learn from the Apple TV show.

That is, that the Severance procedure has a real life counterpart.

Writing for The Conversation, neuropsychologists Rachael Elward and Lauren Ford describe medical patients considered "split-brained" - that is, patients who've had their left and right brain hemispheres separated by surgery. The procedure is used as a treatment for severe cases of epilepsy and - get this! - dates all the way back to the 1940s. (How long has sinister Lumon been in business? Do we know?)

Incredibly, some receivers of the split-brained procedure seem to have different thoughts coming from different hemispheres of the brain. In one particular example, Elward and Ford cite the case of a young split-brain patient who was asked to a) draw pictures and b) arrange letter tiles to indicate what job they'd like to have one day. The young subject used images (controlled by their left hemisphere) to explain they'd like an office job, while at the same time arranging letters (controlled by their right hemisphere) to say they wanted to race cars. 

As incredible as that story is (along with the others mentioned; you should really read the article), Elward and Ford are careful to explain that it doesn't mean the split-brained procedure can do exactly what its fictional counterpart can. While certain surface memories, such as why you went into a room, can be "forgotten" by one hemisphere and "remembered" by another, core memories (such as the identities of your loved ones) are established a bit more deeply and in a more complex manner.

Unfortunately for those who'd like to forget, word is still on which category "paying to see Kraven the Hunter" falls into.

Severance season two drops January 17 on Apple TV+. 

Last year's Alien: Romulus also had a fun little easter egg referencing real-life. Admittedly, it was far less supported by science.