Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Volume 8, Issue 9, September 2004, Pages 389-391
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Research Focus
Asymmetries in face and brain related to emotion

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2004.07.006Get rights and content

Research on the neural substrates of emotion has found evidence for cortical asymmetries for aspects of emotion. A recent article by Nicholls et al. has used a new imaging method to interrogate facial movement in 3D to assess possible asymmetrical action during expressions of happiness and sadness. Greater left-sided movement, particularly during expressions of sadness was observed. These findings have implications for understanding hemispheric differences in emotion and lend support to the notion that aspects of emotion processing might be differentially localized in the two hemispheres.

Section snippets

Affective processes are asymmetrically represented in the brain

Using a variety of methods to make inferences about regionally specific patterns of activation, many investigators have now reported systematic asymmetries in patterns of activation in specific brain regions in response to certain types of positive and negative affective challenges (for reviews, see 4, 5). Despite the complexities associated with aggregating studies with vastly different experimental designs, a recent meta-analytic review has also supported the notion that certain forms of

The Nicholls et al. study

There are several notable features of the recent report by Nicholls et al. (compare with 11, 12) that represent a potentially significant advance over other efforts in the past (for reviews, see 13, 14).

First, they used a sensitive 3D imaging technique to capture facial behavior. This method measures movement that is perpendicular to the facial surface and could detect movement in this plane to an accuracy of 0.16mm, relative to a neutral face baseline. Second, they had observers rate facial

Why should affect be asymmetrically organized?

Much has been written on the possible adaptive significance of an asymmetrically organized brain (see 20, 21 for recent reviews). In a series of articles, Davidson 7, 22, 23 has suggested, based upon a diverse corpus of literature, that a fundamental dimension along which certain prefrontal regions are specialized is the approach–withdrawal dimension. Approach-related positive affect, particularly those forms of positive affect that involve the implementation of appetitive goals, are

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