Department of Psychological Science, Health and Territory, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara.
Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara.
Neuropsychology. 2018 Mar;32(3):317-328. doi: 10.1037/neu0000443. Epub 2018 Feb 22.
Four main theories concerning hemispheric asymmetries for emotional processing have been proposed: the right hemisphere hypothesis (RHH; the right hemisphere is specialized in processing all emotions), the valence hypothesis (VH; the left and the right hemispheres are superior in positive and negative emotion processing, respectively), the modified VH (the right-hemispheric superiority at posterior sites is followed by a valence-specific activity at frontal sites), and the motivational model (the left and the right hemispheres are superior in approaching-related and avoidance-related emotions, respectively).
In a divided visual field paradigm, we presented happy and angry faces to 16 healthy participants, either unilaterally or bilaterally, in order to test the aforementioned theories.
Behavioral results provided support for the VH and correlational analysis revealed that handedness influences the rightward bias for positive emotions. The amplitude of P1, N170, and P2 event-related potential components at parietal sites (selected by means of topographic maps) was larger in the right than in the left hemisphere, independently of the emotional expression of the stimuli, supporting the RHH. At frontal sites, no asymmetry was found in bilateral conditions, whereas in unilateral conditions, a mixed pattern of hemispheric asymmetries emerged.
We conclude that there is no correspondence between behavioral and electrophysiological results concerning asymmetries for emotion processing, and that the VH and the RHH are not mutually exclusive. (PsycINFO Database Record
关于情绪处理的半球不对称性，已经提出了四个主要理论：右半球假说（RHH；右半球专门处理所有情绪）、效价假说（VH；左半球和右半球分别擅长于积极和消极情绪处理）、修正的 VH（后部的右半球优势随后是前部的效价特异性活动）和动机模型（左半球和右半球分别擅长于接近相关和回避相关的情绪）。
在分视场范式中，我们向 16 名健康参与者单侧或双侧呈现快乐和愤怒的面孔，以测试上述理论。
行为结果支持 VH，相关分析表明，利手性影响正性情绪的右偏。顶区（通过地形图选择）的 P1、N170 和 P2 事件相关电位成分的振幅在右半球大于左半球，与刺激的情绪表达无关，支持 RHH。在前额部位，双侧条件下没有发现不对称性，而在单侧条件下，出现了混合的半球不对称模式。
我们的结论是，情绪处理的不对称性在行为和电生理结果之间没有对应关系，并且 VH 和 RHH 并不相互排斥。
