Beyond the right hemisphere: brain mechanisms mediating vocal emotional processing

2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annett Schirmer ◽  
Sonja A. Kotz
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenglong Cao ◽  
Jian Song ◽  
Binbin Liu ◽  
Jianren Yue ◽  
Yuzhao Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Cognitive impairments have been reported in patients with pituitary adenoma; however, there is a lack of knowledge of investigating the emotional stimuli processing in pituitary patients. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether there is emotional processing dysfunction in pituitary patients by recording and analyzing the late positive potential (LPP) elicited by affective stimuli.Methods: Evaluation of emotional stimuli processing by LPP Event related potentials (ERPs) was carried out through central- parietal electrode sites (C3, Cz, C4, P3, Pz, P4) on the head of the patients and healthy controls (HCs).Results: In the negative stimuli, the amplitude of LPP was 2.435 ± 0.419μV for HCs and 0.656 ± 0.427μV for patient group respectively ( p = 0.005). In the positive stimuli, the elicited electric potential 1.450 ± 0.316μV for HCs and 0.495 ± 0.322μV for patient group respectively ( p = 0.040). Moreover, the most obvious difference of LPP amplitude between the two groups existed in the right parietal region. On the right hemisphere (at the P4 site), the elicited electric potential was 1.993 ± 0.299μV for HCs and 0.269 ± 0.305μV for patient group respectively( p = 0.001).Conclusion: There are functional dysfunction of emotional stimuli processing in pituitary adenoma patients. Our research provides the electrophysiological evidence for the presence of cognitive dysfunction which need to be intervened in the pituitary adenoma patients.


Author(s):  
Chiara Ferrari ◽  
Lucile Gamond ◽  
Marcello Gallucci ◽  
Tomaso Vecchi ◽  
Zaira Cattaneo

Abstract. Converging neuroimaging and patient data suggest that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is involved in emotional processing. However, it is still not clear whether the DLPFC in the left and right hemisphere is differentially involved in emotion recognition depending on the emotion considered. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to shed light on the possible causal role of the left and right DLPFC in encoding valence of positive and negative emotional facial expressions. Participants were required to indicate whether a series of faces displayed a positive or negative expression, while TMS was delivered over the right DLPFC, the left DLPFC, and a control site (vertex). Interfering with activity in both the left and right DLPFC delayed valence categorization (compared to control stimulation) to a similar extent irrespective of emotion type. Overall, we failed to demonstrate any valence-related lateralization in the DLPFC by using TMS. Possible methodological limitations are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155005942110633
Author(s):  
Meggan Porteous ◽  
Paniz Tavakoli ◽  
Kenneth Campbell ◽  
Allyson Dale ◽  
Addo Boafo ◽  
...  

Objectives. Suicide is the second leading cause of adolescent deaths and may be linked to difficulties with inhibitory and emotional processing. This study assessed the neural correlates of cognitive inhibition during emotional processing in adolescents hospitalized for a suicidal crisis. Methods. Event-related potentials were recorded during an emotional Go/NoGo task in 12 adolescents who attempted suicide and 12 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Results. Compared to the control group, the suicidal group showed significantly reduced positivity at the time of the P3d (difference waveform reflecting NoGo minus Go trials) in response to happy and neutral, but not sad stimuli. For happy stimuli, this group difference was restricted to the right hemisphere. Further analyses indicated that the suicidal group had a reversed pattern of P3 amplitude in response to inhibition, with lower amplitudes in the NoGo compared to the Go conditions. Suicidal symptoms severity strongly correlated with lower amplitude of the P3d in response to neutral faces. Conclusions. These findings provide more insight into inhibition difficulties in adolescents with acute suicidal risk. Interactions between emotional and inhibition processing should be considered when treating acutely suicidal youths.


2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 721-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Sumie Funayama ◽  
Christian Grillon ◽  
Michael Davis ◽  
Elizabeth A. Phelps

In the present study we report a double dissociation between right and left medial temporal lobe damage in the modulation of fear responses to different types of stimuli. We found that right unilateral temporal lobectomy (RTL) patients, in contrast to control subjects and left temporal lobectomy (LTL) patients, failed to show potentiated startle while viewing negative pictures. However, the opposite pattern of impairment was observed during a stimulus that patients had been told signaled the possibility of shock. Control subjects and RTL patients showed potentiated startle while LTL patients failed to show potentiated startle. We hypothesize that the right medial temporal lobe modulates fear responses while viewing emotional pictures, which involves exposure to (emotional) visual information and is consistent with the emotional processing traditionally ascribed to the right hemisphere. In contrast, the left medial temporal lobe modulates fear responses when those responses are the result of a linguistic/cognitive representation acquired through language, which, like other verbally mediated material, generally involves the left hemisphere. Additional evidence from case studies suggests that, within the medial temporal lobe, the amygdala is responsible for this modulation.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Benjamin C. Gibson ◽  
Andrei Vakhtin ◽  
Vincent P. Clark ◽  
Christopher C. Abbott ◽  
Davin K. Quinn

Hemispheric differences in emotional processing have been observed for over half a century, leading to multiple theories classifying differing roles for the right and left hemisphere in emotional processing. Conventional acceptance of these theories has had lasting clinical implications for the treatment of mood disorders. The theory that the left hemisphere is broadly associated with positively valenced emotions, while the right hemisphere is broadly associated with negatively valenced emotions, drove the initial application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Subsequent rTMS research has led to improved response rates while adhering to the same initial paradigm of administering excitatory rTMS to the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) and inhibitory rTMS to the right PFC. However, accumulating evidence points to greater similarities in emotional regulation between the hemispheres than previously theorized, with potential implications for how rTMS for MDD may be delivered and optimized in the near future. This review will catalog the range of measurement modalities that have been used to explore and describe hemispheric differences, and highlight evidence that updates and advances knowledge of TMS targeting and parameter selection. Future directions for research are proposed that may advance precision medicine and improve efficacy of TMS for MDD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Wei Wei ◽  
Jianghai Ruan ◽  
Xiaodong Duan ◽  
Hua Luo

We investigated emotional processing in apathetic patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) by observing components of event-related potentials (ERPs) in early time windows. Forty PD patients and 21 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. The Starkstein Apathy Scale (SAS) was used to divide the PD patients into apathetic and nonapathetic groups. Cognitive function was evaluated by the forward and backward Digit Span tests, Trail Making Test (TMT), and Word Fluency Test. The participants were required to recognize positive, neutral, and negative emotional faces and engage in an emotion categorization task while EEG was recorded. The time to completion for the TMT (Part A and Part B) from highest to lowest was in the order of apathetic group > nonapathetic group > HC group. Compared with the nonapathetic and HC groups, in the apathetic group, P100 amplitudes were smaller for positive expressions in the right hemisphere and latencies were longer for positive expressions in the left hemisphere, while latencies were longer for neutral expressions bilaterally. Compared with the nonapathetic group, in the apathetic group, N170 amplitudes were attenuated and latencies were delayed for neutral and negative expressions in the right hemisphere. A trend towards larger N170 amplitudes in the right hemisphere than in the left was observed in the nonapathetic and HC groups, but this difference was not significant in the apathetic group. In the apathetic group, bilateral P100 amplitudes elicited by negative expressions were negatively correlated with SAS scores, and SAS scores were positively correlated with Part B of the TMT. N170 amplitudes elicited by negative expressions in the right hemisphere were negatively correlated with SAS in the apathetic group and with Part B of TMT in both PD groups. Our findings suggested that emotional processing was impaired in apathetic PD patients and that the right hemisphere was more sensitive to reflecting this impairment in the early time windows of ERPs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1579
Author(s):  
Guido Gainotti

The hypothesis assuming that the right hemisphere may play a critical role in emotional processing was raised by clinical data which showed that patients with right brain lesions often show abnormal patterns of emotional behavior [...]


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Cartocci ◽  
Andrea Giorgi ◽  
Bianca M. S. Inguscio ◽  
Alessandro Scorpecci ◽  
Sara Giannantonio ◽  
...  

In deaf children, huge emphasis was given to language; however, emotional cues decoding and production appear of pivotal importance for communication capabilities. Concerning neurophysiological correlates of emotional processing, the gamma band activity appears a useful tool adopted for emotion classification and related to the conscious elaboration of emotions. Starting from these considerations, the following items have been investigated: (i) whether emotional auditory stimuli processing differs between normal-hearing (NH) children and children using a cochlear implant (CI), given the non-physiological development of the auditory system in the latter group; (ii) whether the age at CI surgery influences emotion recognition capabilities; and (iii) in light of the right hemisphere hypothesis for emotional processing, whether the CI side influences the processing of emotional cues in unilateral CI (UCI) children. To answer these matters, 9 UCI (9.47 ± 2.33 years old) and 10 NH (10.95 ± 2.11 years old) children were asked to recognize nonverbal vocalizations belonging to three emotional states: positive (achievement, amusement, contentment, relief), negative (anger, disgust, fear, sadness), and neutral (neutral, surprise). Results showed better performances in NH than UCI children in emotional states recognition. The UCI group showed increased gamma activity lateralization index (LI) (relative higher right hemisphere activity) in comparison to the NH group in response to emotional auditory cues. Moreover, LI gamma values were negatively correlated with the percentage of correct responses in emotion recognition. Such observations could be explained by a deficit in UCI children in engaging the left hemisphere for more demanding emotional task, or alternatively by a higher conscious elaboration in UCI than NH children. Additionally, for the UCI group, there was no difference between the CI side and the contralateral side in gamma activity, but a higher gamma activity in the right in comparison to the left hemisphere was found. Therefore, the CI side did not appear to influence the physiologic hemispheric lateralization of emotional processing. Finally, a negative correlation was shown between the age at the CI surgery and the percentage of correct responses in emotion recognition and then suggesting the occurrence of a sensitive period for CI surgery for best emotion recognition skills development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Wilson ◽  
Masaki Tomonaga ◽  
Sarah Jane-Vick

This study explored whether capuchin monkey eye preferences differ systematically in response to stimuli of positive and negative valence. The ‘valence hypothesis’ proposes that the right hemisphere is more dominant for negative emotional processing and the left hemisphere is more dominant for positive emotional processing. Visual information from each eye is thought to be transferred faster to and primarily processed by the contra-lateral cerebral hemisphere. Therefore, it was predicted capuchin monkeys would show greater left eye use for looking at negative stimuli and greater right eye use for looking at positive stimuli. Eleven captive capuchin monkeys were presented with four images of different emotional valence (an egg and capuchin monkey raised eyebrow face were categorised as positive, and a harpy eagle face and capuchin monkey threat face were categorised as negative) and social relevance (consisting of capuchin monkey faces or not), and eye preferences for viewing the stimuli through a monocular viewing hole were recorded. While strong preferences for using either the left or right eye were found for most individuals, there was no consensus at the population-level. Furthermore, the direction of looking, number of looks and duration of looks did not differ significantly with the emotional valence of the stimuli. These results are inconsistent with the main hypotheses about the relationship between eye preferences and processing of emotional stimuli. However, the monkeys did show significantly more arousal behaviours (vocalisation, door-touching, self-scratching and hand-rubbing) when viewing the negatively valenced stimuli than the positively valenced stimuli, indicating that the stimuli were emotionally salient. These findings do not provide evidence for a relationship between eye preferences and functional hemispheric specialisations, as often proposed in humans. Additional comparative studies are required to better understand the phylogeny of lateral biases, particularly in relation to emotional valence.


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