Dominant language functions of the right hemisphere? Prosody and emotional gesturing.

Two patients lost the ability to impart affective qualities to their speech following lesions in the right hemisphere. Arguments are given to support the idea that the right or "minor" hemisphere has a dominant role in modulating the affective components of speech. The anatomical organization of the cortical areas subserving affective speech in the right hemisphere seem to be similar to the organization of cortical areas subserving propositional speech in the left or "major" hemisphere.