Effects of lesion variables and emotion type on the perception of facial emotion

The purpose of this study was to consider the effects of valence, motoric d irection (i.e., approach/withdrawal), and arousal on the perception of faci al emotion in patients with unilateral cortical lesions. We also examined t he influence of lesion side, site, and size on emotional perception. Subjec ts were 30 right-hemisphere-damaged (RHD) and 30 left-hemisphere-damaged (L HD) male patients with focal lesions restricted primarily to the frontal, t emporal, or parietal lobe. Patient groups were comparable on demographic an d clinical neurological variables. Subjects were tested for their ability t o match photographs of four facial emotional expressions: happiness, sadnes s, fear, and anger. Overall, RHD patients were significantly more impaired than LHD patients in perceiving facial emotion. Lesion side, but not site, was associated with motoric direction and valence dimensions. RHD patients had specific deficits relative to LHD patients in processing negative and w ithdrawal emotions; there were no group differences for positive/approach e motions. Lesion size was not significantly correlated with accuracy of emot ional perception.