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Examining the relationship between lateralisation for processing emotional faces, depression, and sex.
Victoria J Bourne1, Matei Vladeanu
1a Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway , University of London , Egham , UK.
Laterality
|March 9, 2013
Summary
Depression in women is linked to altered facial emotion processing lateralization. Higher depression scores correlate with weaker right-hemisphere specialization for emotional faces, particularly for anger, disgust, and fear.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- The right hemisphere is generally specialized for processing facial emotion.
- Atypical lateralization patterns are observed in individuals with psychological conditions.
- Research on depression and emotional processing lateralization yields contradictory results.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between depression severity and facial emotion processing lateralization.
- To examine sex differences in the lateralization of emotional face processing in depressed individuals.
Main Methods:
- 160 participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).
- The chimeric faces test was used to assess lateralization for basic emotion processing.
- Data analysis focused on the relationship between depression scores and hemispheric processing of facial emotions.
Main Results:
- A negative correlation was found between depression scores and right-hemisphere lateralization in females.
- Women with higher depression scores showed reduced right-hemisphere dominance or left-hemisphere lateralization for facial emotion processing.
- This effect was most pronounced for the emotions of anger, disgust, and fear.
- No significant findings were observed in males.
Conclusions:
- Depression is associated with altered facial emotion processing lateralization in women.
- The findings suggest a sex-specific effect of depression on emotional information processing.
- This study contributes to reconciling conflicting findings in the literature on depression and neuropsychological processing of emotional stimuli.
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