PHYSIOLOGICAL-RESPONSES TO VERBALLY INACCESSIBLE PICTORIAL INFORMATION IN THE LEFT AND RIGHT HEMISPHERES

The effects of brief pictorial information on transfer between the cer ebral hemispheres were investigated through recordings of skin conduct ance responses. The stimuli had been judged previously as neutral, pos itive, or negative by an independent group of participants. The verbal ly accessible (VA) stimuli were neutral, whereas the brief, verbally i naccessible (VI) stimuli were positive or negative. The VA and VI stim uli were presented simultaneously, in the same visual half-field (intr ahemispheric), or in the opposite visual half-held (interhemispheric). In a 3rd condition, there were only VA stimuli in either visual field . The right hemisphere was especially sensitive to negative VI present ations in both the inter- and intrahemispheric groups. The left hemisp here showed a corresponding sensitivity to positive stimuli. but only in the interhemispheric group. These findings confirm the hemispheric roles in mediating positive versus negative emotions and show that lef t-to-right transfer can take place without linguistic cognition.