Hemispheric Asymmetry in Accessing Word Meanings: Concrete and Abstract Nouns

2002 ◽  
Vol 94 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1292-1300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoki Shibahara ◽  
Brennis Lucero-Wagoner
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Abstract Word ◽  
Short Stimulus Onset Asynchrony ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Abstract Nouns ◽  
Concrete Nouns ◽  
The Right

The present experiments investigated hemispheric differences in the brain in accessing concrete and abstract word meanings. For this purpose, an automatic semantic priming paradigm was used with a short stimulus onset asynchrony between prime and target (250 msec.) as well as a low proportion of related trials. (20%). Analysis showed that for concrete nouns, priming effects were observed in both hemispheres. There was greater priming in the right hemisphere, suggesting hemispheric differences in accessing semantic representations of concrete nouns. For abstract nouns, on the other hand, priming patterns in the right hemisphere were identical to those in the left hemisphere, suggesting that information about abstract nouns projected to the right hemisphere may be transferred to the dominant left hemisphere for further processing.

Access to Concrete Word Meanings in the Cerebral Hemispheres: Facilitation and Inhibition Effects

2003 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoki Shibahara ◽  
Brennis Lucero-Wagoner
Keyword(s):  
Stimulus Onset Asynchrony ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Concrete Noun ◽  
Perceptual Information ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
The Right ◽  
Onset Asynchrony ◽  
Prime Target

In 2002 Shibahara and Lucero-Wagoner, using a priming paradigm, reported a larger facilitation for concrete noun pairs in the right than left hemisphere when the stimulus onset asynchrony was 250 msec. Their related prime-target pairs were similar not only in meaning but also perceptual attributes, such as shape. They had reported such perceptual information to be available only in the right hemisphere early in target processing. Thus, we predicted that, when the stimulus onset asynchrony is long, there would be no effect of perceptual information on target processing in the right hemisphere, resulting in no hemispheric differences in the amount of facilitation. We also predicted that target processing would be inhibited by prior presentation of unrelated primes only in the left hemisphere because inhibition seems to be produced by the attention system in the left hemisphere. The present experiment was designed to test these predictions, using the stimulus onset asynchrony of 550 msec. and the same prime-target pairs. Analysis showed no hemispheric differences in the amount of facilitation, and inhibition effects for unrelated pairs were produced in both hemispheres. It is suggested that the inhibition effects in each hemisphere might be produced by different mechanisms.

Right Hemisphere Memory Bias Does Not Extend to Involuntary Memories for Negative Scenes

Perception ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-38
Author(s):  
Ella K. Moeck ◽  
Nicole A. Thomas ◽  
Melanie K. T. Takarangi
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Memory Bias ◽  
Right Visual Field ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
Involuntary Memory ◽  
Involuntary Memories ◽  
The Right

Attention is unequally distributed across the visual field. Due to greater right than left hemisphere activation for visuospatial attention, people attend slightly more to the left than the right side. As a result, people voluntarily remember visual stimuli better when it first appears in the left than the right visual field. But does this effect—termed a right hemisphere memory bias—also enhance involuntary memory? We manipulated the presentation location of 100 highly negative images (chosen to increase the likelihood that participants would experience any involuntary memories) in three conditions: predominantly leftward (right hemisphere bias), predominantly rightward (left hemisphere bias), or equally in both visual fields (bilateral). We measured subsequent involuntary memories immediately and for 3 days after encoding. Contrary to predictions, biased hemispheric processing did not affect short- or long-term involuntary memory frequency or duration. Future research should measure hemispheric differences at retrieval, rather than just encoding.

Spatial Frequency-Dependent Asymmetry of Visual Evoked Potential Amplitudes

1996 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 1011-1018
Author(s):  
Karl F. van Orden ◽  
John F. House
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Evoked Potential ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Field Configuration ◽  
Sinusoidal Grating ◽  
Pattern Reversal ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
The Right ◽  
Male Subjects

The extent to which pattern reversal evoked potential amplitudes are distributed symmetrically over the scalp was investigated as a function of stimulus spatial frequency. Nine right-handed male subjects viewed sinusoidal grating stimuli of 4.0 and 0.5 c/deg phase reversed every 900 msec. A visual half-field configuration enabled selective stimulation of the right- or left-hemisphere visual cortex. Evoked responses were recorded from the 2 cm above the inion (Oz) and at 7 and 13 cm lateral to Oz. Analyses of normalized evoked response amplitudes showed a significant asymmetry for the 4.0 c/deg stimulus; right-hemisphere amplitudes declined as a function of distance from the midline, while left-hemisphere amplitudes were greatest at the 7 cm recording site. No hemispheric differences were observed for the 0.5 c/deg stimulus; amplitudes for both hemispheres declined as a function of distance from the midline. The data are discussed in terms of hemispheric differences in morphology and functional asymmetries at early levels of sensory processing.

Selective Attention to Faces in a Rapid Visual Stream: Hemispheric Differences in Enhancement and Suppression of Category-selective Neural Activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve Quek ◽  
Dan Nemrodov ◽  
Bruno Rossion ◽  
Joan Liu-Shuang
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
Face Categorization ◽  
The Face ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selective Activity

In daily life, efficient perceptual categorization of faces occurs in dynamic and highly complex visual environments. Yet the role of selective attention in guiding face categorization has predominantly been studied under sparse and static viewing conditions, with little focus on disentangling the impact of attentional enhancement and suppression. Here we show that attentional enhancement and suppression exert a differential impact on face categorization supported by the left and right hemispheres. We recorded 128-channel EEG while participants viewed a 6-Hz stream of object images (buildings, animals, objects, etc.) with a face image embedded as every fifth image (i.e., OOOOFOOOOFOOOOF…). We isolated face-selective activity by measuring the response at the face presentation frequency (i.e., 6 Hz/5 = 1.2 Hz) under three conditions: Attend Faces, in which participants monitored the sequence for instances of female faces; Attend Objects, in which they responded to instances of guitars; and Baseline, in which they performed an orthogonal task on the central fixation cross. During the orthogonal task, face-specific activity was predominantly centered over the right occipitotemporal region. Actively attending to faces enhanced face-selective activity much more evidently in the left hemisphere than in the right, whereas attending to objects suppressed the face-selective response in both hemispheres to a comparable extent. In addition, the time courses of attentional enhancement and suppression did not overlap. These results suggest the left and right hemispheres support face-selective processing in distinct ways—where the right hemisphere is mandatorily engaged by faces and the left hemisphere is more flexibly recruited to serve current tasks demands.

scholarly journals Revisiting Hemispheric Asymmetry in Mood Regulation: Implications for rTMS for Major Depressive Disorder

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Benjamin C. Gibson ◽  
Andrei Vakhtin ◽  
Vincent P. Clark ◽  
Christopher C. Abbott ◽  
Davin K. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
The Right

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.

scholarly journals Communicating abstract meaning: concepts revealed in words and gestures

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1752) ◽  
pp. 20170138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenka Zdrazilova ◽  
David M. Sidhu ◽  
Penny M. Pexman
Keyword(s):  
Concrete Word ◽  
Abstract Word ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Multiple Representation ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Representation Systems ◽  
Abstract Nouns ◽  
Concrete Nouns ◽  
Abstract Words ◽  
The Brain

Abstract words refer to concepts that cannot be directly experienced through our senses (e.g. truth , morality ). How we ground the meanings of abstract words is one of the deepest problems in cognitive science today. We investigated this question in an experiment in which 62 participants were asked to communicate the meanings of words (20 abstract nouns, e.g. impulse ; 10 concrete nouns, e.g. insect ) to a partner without using the words themselves (the taboo task). We analysed the speech and associated gestures that participants used to communicate the meaning of each word in the taboo task. Analysis of verbal and gestural data yielded a number of insights. When communicating about the meanings of abstract words, participants' speech referenced more people and introspections. In contrast, the meanings of concrete words were communicated by referencing more objects and entities. Gesture results showed that when participants spoke about abstract word meanings their speech was accompanied by more metaphorical and beat gestures, and speech about concrete word meanings was accompanied by more iconic gestures. Taken together, the results suggest that abstract meanings are best captured by a model that allows dynamic access to multiple representation systems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Varieties of abstract concepts: development, use and representation in the brain’.

scholarly journals Persistent Hemispheric Differences in the Perceptual Selection of Spatial Frequencies

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2021-2027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise A. Piazza ◽  
Michael A. Silver
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Asymmetry ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
High Spatial Frequency ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
The Right ◽  
Perceptual Selection

Previous research has shown that the right hemisphere processes low spatial frequencies more efficiently than the left hemisphere, which preferentially processes high spatial frequencies. These studies have typically measured RTs to single, briefly flashed gratings and/or have directed observers to attend to a particular spatial frequency immediately before making a judgment about a subsequently presented stimulus. Thus, it is unclear whether the hemispheres differ in perceptual selection from multiple spatial frequencies that are simultaneously present in the environment, without bias from selective attention. Moreover, the time course of hemispheric asymmetry in spatial frequency processing is unknown. We addressed both of these questions with binocular rivalry, a measure of perceptual selection from competing alternatives over time. Participants viewed a pair of rivalrous orthogonal gratings with different spatial frequencies, presented either to the left or right of central fixation, and continuously reported which grating they perceived. At the beginning of a trial, the low spatial frequency grating was perceptually selected more often when presented in the left hemifield (right hemisphere) than in the right hemifield (left hemisphere), whereas the high spatial frequency grating showed the opposite pattern of results. This hemispheric asymmetry in perceptual selection persisted for the entire 30-sec stimulus presentation, continuing long after stimulus onset. These results indicate stable differences in the resolution of ambiguity across spatial locations and demonstrate the importance of considering sustained differences in perceptual selection across space when characterizing conscious representations of complex scenes.

Hemispheric Encoding Asymmetry is More Apparent Than Real

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 702-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. Miller ◽  
Alan Kingstone ◽  
Michael S. Gazzaniga
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
Split Brain ◽  
Episodic Encoding ◽  
Processing Material ◽  
The Right ◽  
Unfamiliar Faces ◽  
Hemisphere Specialization

Previous neuroimaging studies have claimed a left hemisphere specialization for episodic “encoding” and a right hemisphere specialization for episodic “retrieval.” Yet studies of split-brain patients indicate relatively minor memory impairment after disconnection of the two hemispheres. This suggests that both hemispheres are capable of encoding and retrieval. In the present experiment, we examined the possible limits on encoding capacity of each hemisphere by manipulating the “depth” of processing during the encoding of unfamiliar faces and familiar words in the left and right hemispheres of two split-brain patients. Results showed that only the left hemisphere benefited from deeper (more elaborate) encoding of familiar words, and only the right hemisphere benefited from deeper encoding of unfamiliar faces. Our findings are consistent with the view that hemispheric asymmetries in episodic encoding are related to hemisphere-specific processing of particular stimuli. Convergent with recent neuroimaging studies, these results with split-brain patients also suggest that these hemispheric differences are not due to unique specializations in each half brain for encoding memories, but rather, are due to preferential recruitment of the synaptically closer prefrontal cortex to posterior regions processing material-specific information.

Investigation of the Effect of Mode and Tempo on Emotional Responses to Music Using EEG Power Asymmetry

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 142-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Trochidis ◽  
Emmanuel Bigand
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Eeg Activity ◽  
Musical Excerpt ◽  
Major Mode ◽  
Musical Modes ◽  
Slow Tempo ◽  
The Right

The combined interactions of mode and tempo on emotional responses to music were investigated using both self-reports and electroencephalogram (EEG) activity. A musical excerpt was performed in three different modes and tempi. Participants rated the emotional content of the resulting nine stimuli and their EEG activity was recorded. Musical modes influence the valence of emotion with major mode being evaluated happier and more serene, than minor and locrian modes. In EEG frontal activity, major mode was associated with an increased alpha activation in the left hemisphere compared to minor and locrian modes, which, in turn, induced increased activation in the right hemisphere. The tempo modulates the arousal value of emotion with faster tempi associated with stronger feeling of happiness and anger and this effect is associated in EEG with an increase of frontal activation in the left hemisphere. By contrast, slow tempo induced decreased frontal activation in the left hemisphere. Some interactive effects were found between mode and tempo: An increase of tempo modulated the emotion differently depending on the mode of the piece.

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