Hemispheric asymmetry and emotion: lateralized parietal processing of affect and cognition

The differential cerebral processing of affect and cognition may have important implications for a more general understanding of how these two complex sets of functions differ and how they interact. Building upon recent studies of hemispheric asymmetry in emotion, the present study focused on the differential parietal processing of emotional stimuli under affective and cognitive conditions. Subjects were exposed to neutral and emotional stimuli presented under cognitive and affective instructional sets. Bilateral electroencephalographic (EEG) data showed that the principal differentiation between affective and cognitive conditions occurred in the right hemisphere, whereas the highest overall level of activation during emotional stimulation was in the left hemisphere. It was also found that affective conditions produced higher of levels of both EEG and electrodermal activity than either cognitive or neutral conditions. Finally, significant patterns of gender differentiation suggested greater focal organization for affective arousal in females than males.