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Right hemisphere facial expressivity during natural conversation
L X Blonder1, A F Burns, D Bowers
1Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40536-0230.
Brain and Cognition
|January 1, 1993
Summary
Right hemisphere damage (RHD) patients exhibit reduced facial expressivity, particularly less smiling and laughter, during spontaneous conversations compared to left hemisphere damaged (LHD) and normal (NHD) individuals. This suggests the right hemisphere controls emotional expression in social interactions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Clinical Neurology
Background:
- Previous research on facial expressivity in brain-lesioned patients primarily used laboratory settings.
- The role of specific brain hemispheres in spontaneous emotional expression remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare facial expressivity in patients with right hemisphere damage (RHD), left hemisphere damage (LHD), and normal controls (NHD).
- To investigate facial expressivity during spontaneous social interaction in a naturalistic home environment.
Main Methods:
- Videotaped semistructured interviews were conducted with patients and their spouses in their homes.
- Three research assistants rated 120 10-second segments per patient on a 7-point expressivity scale.
- Facial expressivity, including smiling and laughter, was assessed during spontaneous conversation.
Main Results:
- RHD patients demonstrated significantly reduced facial expressivity compared to LHD and NHD subjects.
- Specifically, RHD patients showed less smiling and laughter during spontaneous conversation.
- This reduction in expressivity was not linked to general communicative competence, as discourse production was comparable to controls.
Conclusions:
- The right hemisphere plays a crucial role in mediating facial expressivity during spontaneous social interactions.
- Findings support the hypothesis that the right hemisphere is essential for naturalistic emotional display.
- Implications for understanding social communication deficits following right-sided brain injury.