[Cerebral functional asymmetry in face perception by the patients with focal brain damage]

The results are reported of the study of face perception in a group of 18 healthy subjects and 10 patients with lesions in the right or left cerebral hemisphere. The task given to these subjects included identification of a face photograph exposed for 20 msec in the right or left field of vision. The index of perception coefficient was the number of errors made while addressing the material to the left or right cerebral hemisphere. The results of the experiment confirmed the hypothesis of the dominant role of the right hemisphere for face perception. The results suggest also that face perception disturbances occur without respect to the site of lesion in the right hemisphere.