A preliminary characterization of lexical emotional expression in right and left brain-damaged patients

Ronald L. Bloom; Joan C. Borod; Loraine K. Obler; Elissa Koff

doi:10.3109/00207459008985952

A preliminary characterization of lexical emotional expression in right and left brain-damaged patients

Ronald L. Bloom, Joan C. Borod, Loraine K. Obler, Elissa Koff

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Disorders in nonverbal communication of emotion have been documented in patients with right hemisphere pathology; lexical expression of emotion is virtually unstudied. In this preliminary investigation, emotionally laden slides were used to elicit discourse from right brain-damaged (RBD), left brain-damaged (LBD), and normal control (NC) subjects. New techniques were developed to examine the ability of these subjects to express emotion in words; formalistic and pragmatic analyses of the discourse were conducted. RBDs, relative to NCs and LBDs, were less successful in using words to convey emotion and produced words of lower emotional intensity. LBD aphasics, despite their linguistic deficits, were comparable to NCs in conveying emotional valence. The data tend to support the speculation that the right hemisphere is dominant for lexical expression of emotion. This study has implications for the neuropsychological investigation of language, emotion, and the brain.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	71-80
Number of pages	10
Journal	International Journal of Neuroscience
Volume	55
Issue number	2-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3109/00207459008985952
State	Published - 1990
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Brain damage
Emotion
Hemispheric specialization
Language

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10.3109/00207459008985952

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@article{df239f0649c24293b7449e2cdb615d97,

title = "A preliminary characterization of lexical emotional expression in right and left brain-damaged patients",

abstract = "Disorders in nonverbal communication of emotion have been documented in patients with right hemisphere pathology; lexical expression of emotion is virtually unstudied. In this preliminary investigation, emotionally laden slides were used to elicit discourse from right brain-damaged (RBD), left brain-damaged (LBD), and normal control (NC) subjects. New techniques were developed to examine the ability of these subjects to express emotion in words; formalistic and pragmatic analyses of the discourse were conducted. RBDs, relative to NCs and LBDs, were less successful in using words to convey emotion and produced words of lower emotional intensity. LBD aphasics, despite their linguistic deficits, were comparable to NCs in conveying emotional valence. The data tend to support the speculation that the right hemisphere is dominant for lexical expression of emotion. This study has implications for the neuropsychological investigation of language, emotion, and the brain.",

keywords = "Brain damage, Emotion, Hemispheric specialization, Language",

author = "Bloom, \{Ronald L.\} and Borod, \{Joan C.\} and Obler, \{Loraine K.\} and Elissa Koff",

note = "Funding Information: Address corcspondence to: Ronald L. Bloom, Ph.D., City College of New York, Speech Dept. (R. 4/107). 137th at Convent Avenue. NYC, NY 10031. This work was supported in part by USPHS Grant No. NS06292 to Boston University School of Medicine and by Professional Staff Congress -- CUNY Research Award Nos. 666349 and 669453 to Queens College. We are grateful to L. Carozza for transcribing the audiotapes and to Dr. M. P. Lorch and M. Nicholas Tor assistance in the original project. A portion of this paper was presented at NYSSHLA annual conference, Buffalo, New York. 1988.",

year = "1990",

doi = "10.3109/00207459008985952",

language = "English",

volume = "55",

pages = "71--80",

journal = "International Journal of Neuroscience",

issn = "0020-7454",

publisher = "Taylor and Francis Ltd.",

number = "2-4",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - A preliminary characterization of lexical emotional expression in right and left brain-damaged patients

AU - Bloom, Ronald L.

AU - Borod, Joan C.

AU - Obler, Loraine K.

AU - Koff, Elissa

N1 - Funding Information: Address corcspondence to: Ronald L. Bloom, Ph.D., City College of New York, Speech Dept. (R. 4/107). 137th at Convent Avenue. NYC, NY 10031. This work was supported in part by USPHS Grant No. NS06292 to Boston University School of Medicine and by Professional Staff Congress -- CUNY Research Award Nos. 666349 and 669453 to Queens College. We are grateful to L. Carozza for transcribing the audiotapes and to Dr. M. P. Lorch and M. Nicholas Tor assistance in the original project. A portion of this paper was presented at NYSSHLA annual conference, Buffalo, New York. 1988.

PY - 1990

Y1 - 1990

N2 - Disorders in nonverbal communication of emotion have been documented in patients with right hemisphere pathology; lexical expression of emotion is virtually unstudied. In this preliminary investigation, emotionally laden slides were used to elicit discourse from right brain-damaged (RBD), left brain-damaged (LBD), and normal control (NC) subjects. New techniques were developed to examine the ability of these subjects to express emotion in words; formalistic and pragmatic analyses of the discourse were conducted. RBDs, relative to NCs and LBDs, were less successful in using words to convey emotion and produced words of lower emotional intensity. LBD aphasics, despite their linguistic deficits, were comparable to NCs in conveying emotional valence. The data tend to support the speculation that the right hemisphere is dominant for lexical expression of emotion. This study has implications for the neuropsychological investigation of language, emotion, and the brain.

AB - Disorders in nonverbal communication of emotion have been documented in patients with right hemisphere pathology; lexical expression of emotion is virtually unstudied. In this preliminary investigation, emotionally laden slides were used to elicit discourse from right brain-damaged (RBD), left brain-damaged (LBD), and normal control (NC) subjects. New techniques were developed to examine the ability of these subjects to express emotion in words; formalistic and pragmatic analyses of the discourse were conducted. RBDs, relative to NCs and LBDs, were less successful in using words to convey emotion and produced words of lower emotional intensity. LBD aphasics, despite their linguistic deficits, were comparable to NCs in conveying emotional valence. The data tend to support the speculation that the right hemisphere is dominant for lexical expression of emotion. This study has implications for the neuropsychological investigation of language, emotion, and the brain.

KW - Brain damage

KW - Emotion

KW - Hemispheric specialization

KW - Language

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0025655490

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DO - 10.3109/00207459008985952

M3 - Article

C2 - 2084052

AN - SCOPUS:0025655490

SN - 0020-7454

VL - 55

SP - 71

EP - 80

JO - International Journal of Neuroscience

JF - International Journal of Neuroscience

IS - 2-4

ER -

A preliminary characterization of lexical emotional expression in right and left brain-damaged patients

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Keywords

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